


Perfect's Overdone

by groovymoonshoes



Series: Defenders of Dreamweaver [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 13:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 72,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2112477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/groovymoonshoes/pseuds/groovymoonshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt Hummel has more or less given into the fact that he can't escape his reality. So why is it that all it takes is a boy in a superhero costume, who Kurt barely knows outside of his cape and bodysuit, to change everything? Sometimes it's important to realise that you aren't the only one playing pretend, running and waiting for reality to catch up on you...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Starting Place

**Author's Note:**

> Story notes: Set circa season 2, but with a lot of changes. Canon up to Never Been Kissed, by which Kurt doesn't go to spy on the Warblers, and with spoilers/ plot elements to the end of the season. Some messing with the order of events to make it all fit in smoothly with the plot of the fic.
> 
> Marley and Unique have been bumped forward a bit too, and Marley goes to McKinley already with little explanation.
> 
> Title taken from "My Way" by I Fight Dragons

Kurt always tried his hardest to make it through the school day with his head down, keeping out of harm's way, simply walking from class to class by himself and avoiding the jocks. He had come to realise that there wasn't safety in numbers by travelling with the other glee kids between their classes, but rather that groups attracted other groups- and their small group of three would only take more impact from the slushies when they were thrown in their faces by five guys than one each.

Where he stood, even walking around with Santana or Brittany or Finn didn't help much, because the status of one person really didn't help the other out at all. Even with Finn as his new step-brother, the bullying had only faded for a few days. Going from "Hudson's faggy friend" to "Hudson's brother" had helped, but all too soon he was just "Hudson's faggy brother".

Unlike the other glee kids Kurt had the added hassle of having a personal tormentor. Karofsky would throw coloured goo on the others, but he wouldn't go out of his way to slam them into lockers the way that he did with Kurt. No day was a safe day in Kurt's books.

Karofsky hadn't turn up to school one day for whatever reason, and Kurt had just been greeted by an enthusiastic shove into the locker and then to the ground by another jock- he was too tall with dumb hair and a face that was so conventionally handsome it was boring- with the shout of "That was for Karofsky, fairy! He asked us to pass the memo on. He wanted to be here to do it for himself, loser, but he let us do it! You know he doesn't let any of us touch you except for him, huh, fag?" Kurt didn't try to get to his feet right away.

It wasn't until he examined himself in the mirror that night that he realised that he was much more bruised across his shoulders from the impact than he tended to be. Not that Karofsky was noticeably gentler in his locker shoves, but it wasn't usually so painful afterwards that Kurt had to lie on his front to sleep without pain shooting through his back every time he moved. The newer jock was making the most of the opportunity to attack him in Karofsky's absence- and Kurt couldn't help but wonder what he had meant by Karofsky not allowing any of the other jocks to injure him. It wasn't protective. It was keeping Kurt for himself to abuse. And Kurt had nowhere to go.

"Kurt! Why are you in such a hurry? Let me walk you out to your car at least, boo," Mercedes said, rushing up to him and looping their arms together as they walked down the empty hallway after glee. "I know it looks like we aren't getting solos for sectionals, but that's no reason to shoot off like that. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." Kurt knew that Mercedes worried about him like any best friend would, and he also knew that he had been distant lately. With everything going on with the bullying, he had become more and more reserved, and he had no plans to stick around at school for a moment longer than he had to. The building was his personal tier of hell.

"I'm sorry, 'Cedes. I just have to get home today; I have a French speech to write, and I can't get away with reciting the French lyrics for Defying Gravity again," Kurt said, and it was a complete lie. He did have to write a speech, and he had recited Defying Gravity for a speech in the past, but the presentations weren't for another two weeks and he already had a lot of class time to work on it.

"But you're so good at French! You could make it up on the spot, I swear!" Tina chimed, having caught up to them. Kurt hadn't even noticed her arriving.

"I _could_ , if I was happy pulling Bs. But I need the French grades if I ever want to study abroad." _and god knows France is the furthest place from Karofsky._ Mercedes frowned but let him go when they got to his Navigator. Kurt accepted the hugs from his friends, but he wished that they would give him a little bit more space sometimes.

Ever since Kurt was old enough to walk down the road from his house to the park on his own, it had become his designated thinking space. When he was younger he would swing. When he got a little bit older he would bring a book to read. At his junior year, he had moved house, it had been a long time since he had gone to the park by himself, and he didn't know what else he was meant to do. The park was buzzing and there wasn't a single quiet space for him to find and sit quietly on his own, so he shared a bench with an elderly couple who gave him a concerned smile when he sat down and began to read. The couple left and Kurt was barely two pages further in than when he had gotten there.

"Nightbird, there's been another break in at the Hutchsworth mansion. I need you to come with me to check it out." Kurt's attention was torn away from the pages of _Les Misérables_ at the conversation happening before him. Two guys, both dressed in elaborate superhero costumes, were the source of the chatter. He rolled his eyes and tried to return to where he was reading, but had lost his place. Bitterly, he marked his page and sat back, trying to make sense of what they were talking about.

"Again? What does she have that JetCat could ever want?" the younger looking hero said, "I thought _you_ had the amulet." The more Kurt looked at him the more he realised that he was very attractive, and the tight fitting bodysuit left little to the imagination. Nightbird was toned around his arms and chest, and it was no secret.

"I do. Right here." The older hero pulled a plastic necklace with a comically large medallion on it from under his suit, before quickly tucking it away. "But I get the feeling that JetCat wasn't involved. The break in just isn't her style. It isn't perfect enough. But the attempt looks close..."

"Glameow?"

"That's what I'm thinking. And we know that she doesn't do it to take anything. She does it to prove she can. Come on, Nightbird. We need to get over there pronto." The older hero swooshed his cape and the younger- Nightbird, he had been called- followed suit, and the two "flew" off together and out of earshot, in the direction of some other people, who were clearly anticipating their arrival. Other heroes were jumping around in the small playground, and Kurt figured they were all one group.

A girl with cat ears and crutches hobbled over to Kurt's bench and sat down beside him, looking over at the group that Nightbird and his friend had flown off to. "I should have stayed over there. The Hutchsworth plot involves me fairly directly," she said, following it with a sigh as she set her crutches down and her leg in a cast up on the bench. "Les Mis, huh? Have they published it with musical breaks yet?"

Kurt took a moment to realise that she was talking to him. "Oh, uh, no. It's an ambitious read, I know, but I have a lot of time on my hands."

"We could use some fresh blood," the girl- a young woman really, she looked to be in her mid-twenties- said. Kurt glanced back over towards the heroes. "Curious, huh?"

"A little," Kurt admitted, "I just can't really figure out what's going on."

"Erica," the girl introduced, holding her hand out for Kurt to shake.

"Kurt."

"Well, Kurt, what would you like to know?" He thought about the question for a moment, looking over to the group. Nightbird held the hands of a girl behind her back while the other hero tied them in place. Beside them stood two others who weren't in such obvious costume, a boy in heels with a feather boa and a younger girl with a leopard print cardigan, both ranting about something. The heroes nodded along, but it was clear they didn't have many thoughts on the matter.

"Who's Nightbird?" Kurt blurted out, his eyes not leaving the group. As soon as he had said it he felt a blush spreading from his neck. Luckily, Erica laughed.

"The nocturnal avenger! Don't let anyone in Dreamweaver hear you say that. Everyone knows Nightbird. He's a rising star. Not only is he dashingly handsome, he's apprentice to White Wings over there, and, when White retires from the Defenders, he'll be the new leader of the hero side." Kurt looked at her blankly. "His name is Blaine, and yeah, everyone thinks he's gorgeous. Just ask Hadley. She's the blonde over there." The girl put her hands on Blaine's shoulders and leaned close to his ear, whispering something. _Of course_ someone as gorgeous as the superhero had a girlfriend. Stupid Hadley and her leopard print cardigan. "You should stick around after the session times out and meet everyone. They're all nice people. We don't bite, honestly."

"So why the costumes? You're all just... playing pretend?" Kurt asked.

"No, no. It's Live Action Roleplaying. More like... extended improv acting. We do our plotting, then we get into character and we act it all out. It's fun, until you jump out of a tree and expect to have cat-like reflexes and break your leg." Erica gestures to her leg in a cast and sighs.

"How often are you here?"

"Well our location shifts around. We LARP here about this time every week, when the weather is nice. We usually meet up three times a week or so, but it's not compulsory or anything to go to all the sessions, if you don't want to. Luke and I, Hadley and Blaine are always here, at least. When we don't get enough people then we just call it quits and get coffee instead."

"So if I came back at this time next week..?" Erica grinned.

"Then we would be here and you can lurk on us some more. I'm getting this damn attention whore of a cast off next week, so JetCat will be back to her villainous ways. And there's nothing the defenders can do about it. Oh, Luke's looking over here. Give me a moment." Erica adjusted her top to show off her boobs better and raised an eyebrow over at the hero. He managed to avoid looking for long enough. "Damn. He's so solidly White Wings that he can't pay any attention to his fiancée. Go figure. Don't date a LARPer when you can't LARP alongside them." Kurt nodded, pretending that he knew what she was talking about, when he really didn't. He hadn't dated anyone, nor had he even heard of LARPing until a few minutes ago. "Hey, Kurt? It would be really cool if you stuck around. You might want to have a go yourself in a couple of weeks."

"Thanks, but I really should be getting home. Maybe next week," Kurt said, standing up. He took a few steps away from the bench before turning back to Erica. "Say I _did_ want to get involved, how much would I have to know about superheroes?"

"Better question, how much do you know about boys in bodysuits?" Erica quipped, raising an eyebrow.

"What exactly is the right answer?"

"Just say that you like looking at Blaine's and I'll let you go," she said disinterestedly, inspecting her nails.

"Okay, fine. Blaine is... cute. And now I'm going to leave before you force me to talk to him."

"Wise move, Kurtsies. See you next week." Kurt climbed into his car and drove home, hating how curious he was about how the whole thing worked. He wanted to try. He wanted to befriend Erica, who had teased him about boys in bodysuits, but never once batted an eyelid at his response. Suddenly, Kurt realised that he might have found a new safe haven, a place that remained totally untouched by school- a saving grace that not even glee club had.

* * *

One week. It takes Kurt one week to fall in love with the idea of Blaine.

The next week, Kurt didn't bother to bring a book with him to the park. He had spent a lot of the week wondering about the people, the odd teenagers in superhero costumes and the older two who facilitated the activity. Every time he thought about it, his mind would drift back to Blaine, the boy he had never even spoken to, but had been so gorgeous and whose smile had called Kurt back.

Erica waved to him when she first arrived with the others, but he watched as she slid into her villainess persona and didn't give it up. Kurt _still_ couldn't really understand what was going on, but tried to pick out the familiar faces. The groups had changed up from the week before, and he couldn't work out why Blaine- Nightbird, Kurt supposed, since he was in character- was talking to the villain who he was holding in place for the other hero last week. The two seemed friendly with one another when they should be enemies.

All too soon Kurt found that he was watching Blaine's every movement. The way he smiled, nodded, talked with his hands. He imagined Blaine's hands holding his, the strong arms around his waist, his beautiful lips ghosting against his...

"Can you hold this for a second?" a blond boy about his age asked him, holding out a costume policeman's hat to Kurt. He recognised the boy from the week before, someone in the roleplay, and took it from him.

"Sure."

"Thanks. When Dovetail comes by in a minute or two, you didn't take it and neither did I." Another hero name; Kurt wasn't sure if he could keep up. The boy sat down on the bench next to him, whistling in forced nonchalance. Another boy walked over to them and glared at the pair on the bench.

"Excuse me, sir," he said, not aiming it at Kurt, "but I need to ask you to return the hat. I'll pass it on to the Constable, no hard feelings, and he won't call your parents..." he looked down to see the hat in Kurt's hands. "Oh," he said, "we can deal with the issue in, erm, ten minutes." The hero walked off, shrugging at the boy pouting at him.

"I knew that would work," the blond said to Kurt, whose eyes were stuck back on Blaine, "I'm going to be in _so_ much trouble though."

"It's not really that worth it though, right?"

"I'm not meant to be acknowledging your presence, voice in the park. Here in Dreamweaver we don't believe in communicating with that which we cannot see. But all the same, I'm going to cut you some slack, because you just saved my butt from the cops. It isn't worth it, no, but I get a certain rush from it. My counsellor says I have behavioural issues." Kurt, purely baffled by the boy, simply nodded, pretending to have understood most of what had just happened. Erica walked towards the bench, stopping halfway to blow a kiss to the heroes behind her. When she reached the bench, she tapped it twice, and slowly all the other LARPers ended their conversations and assembled by the bench, each tapping it. Kurt found himself stuck in the middle of the group, and no one seemed to mind.

"Jeff, you idiot! You went completely out of character there for a moment!" the boy who had approached them about the hat said, whacking him gently in the arm as he flopped down onto the blond's- Jeff's- lap. Jeff didn't seem to mind the new company.

"I didn't, Nick! I even explained that I wasn't talking to him! Right?" Jeff looked at Kurt for back up.

"Right. He said that he didn't believe in communicating with spirits or something," Kurt said, "you want this back?" he held the hat out to Nick, who took it and passed it to another guy.

"Ethan, it's yours," he said.

"Nope, it's _Carlton's_. But I'll take responsibility for his actions," Ethan replied, taking the hat and putting it on.

"Okay, so the Jeff thing is sorted. Any other LARP stuff to cover?" Erica asked. The teenagers all looked at her blankly. "Great, well, as per usual next Saturday is our monthly plotter, anything that needs going in the larpwriter should be emailed to Luke, and please wash your suits because you all smell like teenage boy."

"Rude," Hadley said, looking to the girl who Blaine had been talking to, "Marley? Any help here?"

"Actually, Leo got a bit cuddly before. I _do_ smell like teenage boy."

"Sorry," a boy said, and Kurt figured that he must be Leo. He had his arms around Ethan's shoulders affectionately.

"Is that all, Erica?" a beautiful voice said calmly. Kurt looked over to find that the owner of the voice was none other than Blaine- and the velvet smooth tone to his voice was even better than he remembered. He stood slightly to the side, his cape huddled around him like a blanket, keeping to himself. Luke and Erica held hands. Nick was sitting on Jeff. Leo and Ethan were cuddling loosely. Marley and the others stood close to one another. Blaine was a stark contrast to all of them, and it made Kurt wonder if he was reserved on purpose or if he simply didn't have anyone to be physically affectionate with in the same way.

"Yes. Your mom needs you home?" Erica asked with a concerned tone. Blaine nodded. "You can go. See you on Friday?"

"Oh, um, I don't know if I can make it yet."

"Just text us or something either way, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll do that. I should get going." Blaine said, offering a wave to everyone. A chorus of 'bye, Blaine' followed.

Ethan pecked Leo on the cheek and said, "I should head off too. See you all on Monday!" He slid out of Leo's arms and half-jogged over to Blaine, offering to give him a ride home, which Blaine visibly accepted.

"Oh, everyone, this is Kurt. Kurt, everyone," Erica introduced, "he might join us soon, right?"

"Yeah, maybe. I still don't really understand what's going on," Kurt admitted, suddenly incredibly self conscious in the middle of the circle. Everyone seemed to be looking at him, and though he knew he should take it as them being interested and attentive, it was a little intimidating.

"You need a character first," Luke said, "any ideas on that part?" Kurt shrugged.

"I'll help you!" Marley said brightly, "do you have any time after school in the next couple of weeks? Or we could do it at school, if you'd like!"

"You go to McKinley?" Kurt asked, feeling terrible that he had never even seen the girl before. She nodded. The group began to disband around them.

"You're in the glee club, right?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I was going to audition at the beginning of the year, but then I looked up some of your old performances and Rachel Berry is terrifying. I could never step through that choir room door. I just wasn't going to live up to the expectations."

"You wouldn't have to. I thought it would be clear that we all just sing back up for her. You don't have to be able to match her standard, because it's not like you would ever get a solo anyway." Kurt sighed slightly. He wished that he was over exaggerating.

"Oh, well, I think you're really good, anyway. It's a shame you don't get to sing more." Kurt was sure he could feel a blush spreading to his cheeks and willed it to go away. He knew he could sing, but it was still nice to hear it every so often.

"So, Marley, when are you free to do this character stuff with me? I really have no clue where to even start. I suppose it would help if you could explain where everyone else's characters fitted in, too."

"I don't do very much outside of the LARP, to be honest. Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"I promised my friends that I would hang out with them. Monday?" Marley shook her head.

"We have a session. Tuesday?"

"Okay, deal. Tuesday it is," Kurt accepted, putting a mental block in his calendar. Marley suggested that they walk home from school together, and Kurt was more than happy to do so. It would save him a few explanations at home as to where he was going, and he could avoid being cornered at his car by Tina or Mercedes. Soon the group was diminished down to Erica, Luke and Hadley, who were clearly waiting for everyone else to leave, and Kurt took his cue to go.

* * *

Marley, though she may have seemed initially shy, seemed to have warmed up to Kurt by Tuesday, and she didn't stop chattering away for the whole walk to her house. She only lived a couple of streets over from McKinley, which meant that there wasn't a whole lot of time for them to fill with conversation. They easily slipped into polite background buzz more than anything else, asking one another about their classes and clubs, bonding over mutual hatred for certain snooty teachers and recapping the latest episode of Sing.

When they got to Marley's house, she toed off her shoes at the door (so Kurt followed suit) and she was very quick to lead Kurt through to the kitchen and immediately fix a plate of snacks. "Is it really lame that I do this every day?" Marley asked, picking up the plate.

"No, no," Kurt said, "it's sweet. Thank you." He followed her into the living room- it wasn't a small room, but it was filled with so much furniture there was hardly space to breathe- and settled onto the worn couch. Marley sat beside him and placed the plate down on the coffee table.

"You can put your feet up on the table, or whatever. I know it can be kind of awkward when you first go to someone's house and really, you don't have worry about anything," Marley said shyly, "but on the other hand, do you mind if we watch Degrassi before we start on roleplay business?" Kurt did his best to contain a laugh, but it obviously wasn't good enough because Marley dropped her head into her hands. "I _knew_ I shouldn't have brought it up," she said, stifling her own laughter, "do I take that as a no?"

"Which season are you watching?" Kurt asked, "I haven't watched it for a few years." Marley gaped at him.

"But you _did_ watch it? In all its teen drama glory?"

"Yeah, but I'm not up to date with any of this new stuff. You'll have to catch me up again." Marley visibly didn't stop grinning from the time she set up her DVD to the time she hit play on the episode. She pointed out each character as they popped up, and by the end of the episode, Kurt felt as though he knew enough that he could pick it up again, despite it being an older season.

"You probably liked Marco best in season seven though, right?" Marley asked, folding her legs under herself.

"Should I be offended that you picked the one gay character on the show?" Kurt replied. Marley clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't want to assume anything, I'm so sorry. I wasn't even implying that _you_ are gay, I swear, I honestly just thought that he would be your favourite!" Kurt couldn't help but laugh at the situation. He had put his friendship into the right girl from the roleplay, he could just feel it.

"Marley, calm down," Kurt said through his laughter, "I'm not upset."

"Oh, good, good."

"Maybe we should just move onto character stuff," Kurt suggested, and she visibly relaxed.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan to me. Have you thought about it at all? Like, do you have any kind of starting point?" Marley found some paper and pens and placed them on the table, ready for note taking.

"Um, not really. I was hoping that you could explain all the other characters to me first, and then I could see where I can fit in, or something." He wasn't really sure what kind of clarity he was expecting, but he was hopeful for some kind of progress in his understanding of the group and the interactions between the characters.

"Okay, good point." Marley split a page into two columns, labelling one 'player' and the other 'character'. "So we have Luke, who plays White Wings, and Erica, who plays JetCat," she began, writing things down in the columns as she went. "White Wings is the leader of the Defenders, and JetCat is his arch nemesis. But they have a sort of flirtatious relationship. Then there's Nightbird, played by Blaine. Nightbird is White Wings' apprentice of sorts, and he's training to take over leadership when White eventually retires. On the same sort of tier as Nightbird is Glameow, my character. She kind of wants to be a villain but isn't that good at it, and JetCat doesn't like her very much. Leo plays Hawkbeak, a sort of minor hero, who works independent of the Defenders. They are the heroes and the villains." Marley ruled a line underneath the names so far. She glanced at Kurt, who was still following okay, took a deep breath and continued. "No town would be complete without some civilians. So we have Unique, played by Wade- but don't you dare call her that, she is Unique all the time to you- who is a famous starlet, really vulnerable to the villains. Yvonne, her best friend, is played by Hadley. Miss Tigressa is a model, also very rich, and has a sort of evil streak. Ethan plays Constable Carlton. Nick and Jeff play teenage best friends, Drew and Braxton, but whereas Braxton gets into trouble for fun, Drew has a hero persona, too," Marley reached the end of explanation and put the pen down. "So, your character. Hero, civilian, villain?"

"I don't really know enough about superheroes to play one," Kurt admitted, "but I think I can handle a civilian."

"Great! Well, there's our starting place." In the next half an hour, Kurt and Marley pieced together a character. Marley asked Kurt questions, which he tried his best to answer in character, and she noted down his answers. They had a frame for his character, which Marley assured him would be fleshed out best in time, as he simply played the game and plotted with the others.

Kurt was to play a fresh out of college journalist with a fascination with the town of Dreamweaver, where no one seemed to question the presence of the heroes and the villains, having just move the town following his parents and working in their bar. It set him in an ideal starting spot, from what Marley told him, as he had reason to interact with nearly all of the characters at some point or another, and that he would spend some time with Ethan in character initially, or so she thought, and that it would benefit him because Ethan was such a lovely person.

"So, there's one thing left for your skeleton," Marley said. Kurt raised his eyebrow at her. They had covered a lot more about his history than he was expecting, and couldn't think of anything that they could have possibly missed. "You need a name."

"How did the rest of you come up with your names?" Kurt asked.

"Let's see... I accidentally named my character after a Pokémon- it's just what happened when Leo was the one to help me make her, the way I'm helping you. The heroes have bird imagery and the villains have cats. Unique has always chosen that name for herself, but Hutchsworth- that's because she couldn't pick between Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. I think Jeff and Nick used a name generator."

"I think I have an idea. Marley, who is your favourite Degrassi couple?"

"Peter and Darcy," she answered quickly. Kurt considered it for a moment.

"Darcy Peterson."

"I love it. Kurt, you're so good at this!" Marley complimented, "I'm glad we're getting Darcy in Dreamweaver." Kurt had no idea what kind of drama his humble bartender could stir up, but he was excited to find out.


	2. Getting Into It

**To :** Kurt Hummel _(KurtEHummel)_ **and** Marley Rose _(arosebyanothername)_

**From:** Luke Gautier _(LGautier)_

**Subject:** Mr. Peterson

Hey Kurt and Marley,

I've added Kurt and Darcy to the larpwriter, which means Kurt, you are all set to start playing as soon as you like. Our Monday session will be at Ethan's house this week, but we totally understand if you don't want to start until our Wednesday session at the park.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

Luke

* * *

**To:** Luke Gautier _(LGautier)_

**From:** Kurt Hummel _(KurtEHummel)_

**Subject:** Questions

Hi Luke,

I was just wondering what the actual process of the LARP is? No one has ever actually told me what I'm meant to do- so how exactly does a normal session go? Sorry if that's a bit vague.

Kurt

* * *

**To :** Kurt Hummel _(KurtEHummel)_

**From:** Luke Gautier _(LGautier)_

**Subject:** RE: Questions

No, I get what you mean. You've just watched a couple of sessions and need some clarity about what happens.

So on Wednesdays (would I be right in assuming that you're skipping Monday because otherwise you'll be at a near stranger's house?) we all meet at the park about five (our Dalton students need to drive over, plus many of them have other commitments earlier in the afternoon), arriving in costume. Once enough people arrive, we opt to begin the session, and then as the others arrive they simply join in when they're ready.

Once you're IC (in character), we discourage going OOC (out of character) until the conclusion of the LARP session, although there are exceptions. To end the session, usually after about three quarters of an hour, we all tap the bench twice, to signify that we are going OOC. Once the whole group has ended, we have a little debrief, any major plot developments can be discussed, and we decide details for the next sessions. After the session people tend to stick around for a bit to chat with one another.

During the session your character simply interacts with others. Try to have discussions with several other characters. Develop relationships. It will all come together in the end. To begin with Darcy will probably interact a lot with Constable Carlton (he has some drinking issues), and soon enough the heroes for news articles. Don't be too surprised if the villains attack the bar, however...

Hopefully that cleared it up a bit. The best way to learn is just to play!

Luke

* * *

The next Wednesday became a very busy one for Kurt. All morning he was excited for his first proper LARP session that evening, he was refusing to speak in English until after his French presentation at ten, and he had glee after school. He barely had time to listen to Mercedes and Tina as they chatted away by his locker in between classes. "I'll be right back," Kurt announced, closing his locker, much to the surprise of his friends.

"Where are you going, Kurt?" Tina asked, sounding concerned.

"I just have to say hi to someone. I'll be right back." He didn't even give his friends a chance to reply before he darted across the hallway. "Marley, hi!" he said, startling the girl. She turned quickly, her guard clearly up, before she saw Kurt and softened.

"Hey, Kurt!" she replied.

"I never see you at school. This is kind of weird, huh?"

"It's a little bit weird," Marley said with a laugh, "you can go now, if you want. I know hanging out with a freshman won't help your social status."

"Honey, I'm in _glee club_. I can't get any lower around this place."

"Are you coming to the LARP tonight? I can't wait until Glam and Darcy have the chance to interact. I just really love him as a character already."

"Yeah, of course. I've been looking forward to it all week-" Kurt didn't even hear the sound of footsteps behind him, didn't feel the looming presence of his tormentor. He was simply cut off mid-sentence by a cascade of frozen slush being tipped down the back of his shirt.

"I thought you didn't like pussy, fairy! No need to lead little girls on, homo!" Karofsky said, "What happened to all your glee fags? None of those boys would sleep with you and you had to turn to a girl who would suck your dick?" Karofsky swiped Kurt behind the knees, sending him to the floor to sit the puddle the red dye that had dribbled from his shirt had formed. When Kurt dared to look up, Karofsky had faded into a swarm of red letterman jackets, and Marley was looking horrified.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked up at her. He was used to dealing with Karofsky and his group of jocks, but he hated to think that he had just dragged another innocent person into it with him. He clambered to his feet and repeated his question, "Marley, are you okay?" She nodded timidly.

"Kurt, oh my goodness... you should go and get cleaned up. I'll see you tonight." Marley was gone before Kurt could reassure her that he was okay. Mercedes and Tina were still standing at his locker when he got to it to retrieve his spare clothes. They barely even noticed the way he squirmed, and seemed to let it go a whole lot more easily than they used to. He wondered when they stopped acting as if they cared.

Somehow, with a lot of difficulty, Kurt dragged himself through the rest of the school day, counting the minutes in all of his classes. He made it to glee in one piece and clapped along with everyone else at the end of a solo performance by Rachel which maybe wasn't completely on theme, argued half heartedly about song choices for Sectionals and didn't even bother to put up his hand when they voted. He spent as much of the time as he could manage scrolling through plot summaries in the Dreamweaver Facebook group of past sessions, trying to get some grip on the history of the town. Darcy was about to be thrown into the deep end, and Kurt wasn't sure whether to feel thrilled or terrified.

* * *

He arrived at the park a little bit earlier than Luke had told him to and waited, in what little costume he had designated to be Darcy's look. He had chosen a leather jacket that he seldom wore and, as an extra accessory which he felt he might need come summer time when the jacket was too much, a pair of aviators.

Luke, Erica and Hadley were the first to arrive at the park, and they instantly approached Kurt. Luke was in his full white spandex suit, complete with cape. Erica was wearing her black body suit and cat ears, which had an elaborately bejewelled J on the back. Hadley was in much the same position as Kurt and wore simply her leopard print cardigan by way of costume. "Hey Kurt!" Erica greeted, "I looked over Darcy's profile. Nice work."

"Thanks," Kurt replied, "Marley was really helpful. I'm still not really positive I know what I'm doing."

"Just make yourself completely and utterly the character. The second we start the session, you leave Kurt behind. Everything Kurt might be thinking and feeling is irrelevant, because Darcy is in control."

"What if I'm not good enough at acting for this?"

"Then Darcy becomes sort of a reflection of you, which isn't that terrible. He can be a bit like you, so long as he's still his own person, in a way. But it's improv. There are no scripts for you to memorise. Just do whatever you feel like doing." Kurt nodded, hoping that what Erica said would prove to be of some use to him.

Blaine, Nick and Jeff all arrived at the same time, each in costume. Blaine was the only one with a bodysuit, whereas Nick and Jeff were both in civilian costume- each with a signature piece here and there, same as Kurt. Blaine's dark spandex wasn't something Kurt felt as though he could get bored of, and it certainly showed of that Blaine had some nice assets. Marley and Unique walked up to the slowly growing group together, too.

"Haven't Leo and Ethan come in yet? Ethan's car is parked out there," Marley informed the group.

"Who knows what they could be doing?" Hadley said, with an air of absolute innocence. No one else seemed to feel the same way.

"Honey, _everyone_ knows what they're doing," Unique replied, earning an _mmhmm_ from Erica.

"They'll turn up in their own time. I think we should get started, anyway," Luke said authoritatively, and the group quietened, "as most of you are aware, today is Kurt's first LARP with us. Darcy will be working in the bar here in Dreamweaver and has a bit of a journalism thing, but let's not spoil his whole life story for your characters, hmm? Okay, let's get started." The group dispersed, and Kurt watched as the characters that the group adopted grew on them. Marley's broad smile dropped to a smirk as she followed along behind Erica, whose eyes began to pierce through the heroes. Nick and Jeff were obviously the most similar to their characters, as they both immediately raced for the small playground. Soon Kurt was left standing by himself, helplessly looking around at the smaller groups, knowing that he had to wait for the others to come to him.

Kurt felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to find Hadley and Unique, each looking purely bitchy. "Can I help you?" Kurt asked.

"Strawberry daiquiri," Unique said, "and the best gossip that you can serve up."

"And a Cosmo for me," Hadley added. Even with some confusion, Kurt suddenly caught on to what was happening. He wasn't sure how to feel with his first encounter, but he realised that his own thoughts and feelings didn't matter. It was all down to what it was that Darcy felt about the situation. And to Darcy Peterson, serving women cocktails was just daily business.

"Do you have an ID to go along with that order?" he asked, looking up and down at Hadley. The blonde was tiny and really didn't pass for anything over fourteen, let alone twenty-one. Her mouth dropped open in surprise, which Kurt mentally reminded himself wasn't Hadley's reaction, but her character's. He wondered when this kind of acting would begin to feel natural to him, because at that moment everything felt forced- but whenever he looked at anyone else, it seemed like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"I am Yvonne Tigressa! I shouldn't require identification, thank you!"

"Excuse me, miss, but you don't look twenty-one. I can't morally serve you alcohol without ID." At that Hadley giggled.

"Oh, you really think so?" she turned to Unique and said, "I think the snake venom facials are working, darling!"

Unique lifted her hand to her face. "Mm, still so smooth," she agreed.

"And are _you_ over twenty-one? I can't morally seduce you without ID," Hadley purred flirtatiously to Kurt. He cleared his throat.

"Uh, yes, but that's beside the point. ID?"

"I don't have ID, but I have a Wikipedia page. And if _that_ says that I started modelling at eighteen, and that was five years ago, do you think that I'm younger than twenty-one?"

Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright, ladies, it's a small town, I'm new around here, no one else seems to ever ask for ID... I'll let it slide. But if word gets out about this and you two are actually underage? Then you're filling my pay check in the event my parents won't."

"Money isn't an issue with us, darling," Unique said, "You can have a generous tip, too." After a small pause in which Unique mimed handing over cash and Kurt in turn mimed mixing their drinks, Unique spoke again. "You didn't fill the gossip order."

"I haven't been here long enough to really know anything that's been happening. You two are the town's rumour mill?"

Hadley nodded. "Mmhmm. Being the rich, famous actress that Unique Hutchsworth is and the rich, famous model that Yvonne Tigressa is, it's a miracle you haven't heard of either of us."

"I've been living under a bit of a rock, lately, I was studying overseas," Kurt explained on Darcy's behalf.

"Oh, well that makes perfect sense then. My film didn't really make it very big internationally," Unique said.

"Maybe you two need to get me caught up. Are you regulars at the bar, or-" Kurt stopped midsentence as Hadley and Unique looked shocked at something happening behind him. He hesitated for a moment before turning around to find Marley standing behind him.

"Hello," Marley said calmly, but with a countenance completely different to what he would expect from the shy girl. Everything about her felt villain, in the way she carried herself and addressed him. It amazed Kurt how solidly Glameow she could be. She slowly stepped closer. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Peterson."

"What do you want from me?" Kurt asked, taking a step back, only to be pushed forward again by a gentle shove from Hadley.

"I don't care for you. I care for the money in the register behind you."

"How did you even get in here? We didn't hear the door," Kurt said. How was he supposed to play interaction with a villain? Was stalling until some form of help arrived what he was meant to be doing? No one seemed upset with his choice of words, and so they continued. Marley pointed above them to nothing in particular.

"I'm a good climber. And your skylight is open, which did make this easier."

"You don't want my money," Kurt said, though he turned his head to see what the disturbance on his left was. Blaine and Luke were talking near them, probably 'outside the bar'. He tried not to focus on them, and instead on Marley who was slinking closer, "the alcohol... the spirits are probably worth more than you'll find in the register." The buzz from the boys was constant, and Kurt picked up a _"First solo mission,"_ alongside a declaration that _"Glameow is my rival; I need to do this sooner or later, White! You can't keep taking all the glory!"_

Marley cocked her head at Kurt in intrigue. "Bottles don't transport as well as cash."

"And how are you transporting the cash? You don't have a cliché bag with a dollar sign on."

"My bra. It helps that Nightbird is terrified of breasts," Marley said plainly. She stepped left, and Kurt stepped to meet her, blocking her path again. "Hey, play nice now, Darcy. Let me get close enough to touch it before your beloved heroes show up."

"How do you know my name?" Kurt asked. They hadn't discussed any back story between them.

"I know a lot of things. I have tabs on everyone in Dreamweaver, don't flatter yourself. So now, if you would be so kind as to just-"

"Yeah right," Blaine said, stepping neatly behind Marley and restraining her hands. She fought against it and Kurt turned back to Hadley and Unique.

"Sorry for the disturbance," he said, as Marley jumped onto Blaine's back, and he fell down at the impact. Kurt wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond, or even whether he should inquire about Blaine's safety. He seemed okay, though Kurt was soon distracted by the girls.

"The things I would do to that boy," Hadley said, "shame he won't let the Tigress prowl."

"This sort of thing happens a lot around here?" Kurt asked. Unique nodded.

"All the time. It's almost unusual if you don't witness a break in of some sort in a week."

"You win!" Marley yelled, catching the attention of all three of the bystanders. Blaine was standing above her, his foot resting on her stomach. She held up an imaginary wad of cash, which Blaine took from her. He lifted his foot, and Marley clambered ungracefully to her feet. "What are you doing with me this time, huh?"

"You don't have to do this," Blaine said calmly, a hand on her shoulder, "You know White Wings would train you up, too. JetCat doesn't want a villain to contend with."

"I just have to prove that I can do it," Marley said, "it's important to me." Blaine sighed, and released his hand. He stepped around her to restrain her hands again, but as soon as he moved, she ran away, only stopping when she hit the spot that Erica was sitting in.

"She got away again. Well, at least she was empty handed," Blaine said, stepping towards the small group. "You're new in town," he stated, looking Kurt over.

"I am," he replied. Blaine raised an eyebrow at the girls, who quickly left the pair alone too. Blaine cleared his throat.

"Well, first thing first. This belongs to you," he said, passing Kurt the imaginary money, which he in turn put into the imaginary cash register. It felt silly, but then again, it had been Blaine who had passed it to him.

"Thanks," Kurt said, "I didn't even notice her taking it."

"She's agile, to say the least. Did you hear her breaking in?"

"Not at all."

"She's good, but she isn't the best that Dreamweaver has... not to scare you away again or anything. We don't get many attractive guys around here, it would be a shame to lose you," Blaine said. Kurt blushed furiously, unsure how to properly respond to such a blatant flirt. He shook it off, reminding himself that it was for Darcy, from Nightbird. He needed to separate the two- otherwise his attraction to Blaine would only become more heartbreaking in the end.

"You must scare them all away with how high the standard has been set by the heroes," Kurt flirted back. He was surprised he had ever even managed to think up a line like that. Maybe Darcy really was growing his own person after all.

"I bet you say that to all the heroes who save you from robberies."

"This would be my first robbery to be saved from."

"That's not a no," Blaine said, winking at him. How could Kurt possibly top that? It didn't even come off as trying too hard or an inappropriate come on- it felt like it stepped out of an old movie and Blaine was the charming boy with a leather jacket.

"It's not."

"I'm Nightbird," Blaine introduced.

"The nocturnal avenger," Kurt supplied, to which Blaine grinned, "I've heard plenty about you. I'm Darcy."

"Well, Mister Darcy, I hope to see you again. Maybe under more pleasant circumstances, with less victimisation; though I don't mind coming to your rescue."

"All part of the job, right?"

"The rescues, sure. But not often the saving cute boys." Kurt felt a blush rise in his cheeks. Blaine cleared his throat. "Well, I'd better be going. Have a nice evening, Darcy." Blaine saluted Kurt quickly, before turning to leave himself. The way he said his name so softly made Kurt wonder if there was something more to all the flirting- because he knew that he definitely wouldn't mind if that was the case.

He filled up the rest of the session by sitting down with Unique and Hadley again, as they filled him in on the recent events in Dreamweaver. They had plenty of questions to fire his way about Darcy's encounter with Nightbird, and he was more than happy to share some of the basics. He kept a small few words to himself, the tiniest details that he was storing away so that he could use them himself later. Blaine had a way of making him feel like he could actually believe that he was as attractive as the flirts suggested that he was.

"I just have one question to ask," Kurt said, and the girls turned to him attentively, "is Nightbird gay?"

Hadley sighed. "No one knows for sure. He hasn't ever had a girlfriend, and I've never managed to seduce him."

"Honey, you've never managed to seduce anyone," Unique replied.

"But labels just aren't a big deal in Dreamweaver, though I get that they are elsewhere. It's just that if you like someone, then you should date them, and no one really cares who makes the couple."

"That's... really great. No one here really cares?" Kurt asked.

"Not at all." And that was when Kurt realised that maybe he had finally found a place- even the most fictional of towns- where when he was told no one cared about his sexuality, he actually believed it.


	3. Safe Space

The session ended and Kurt excused how silly it felt to tap the bench, the same as everyone else had. He had surprised himself with how much he had enjoyed the session, how easily Darcy had come to him. Of course, flirting with cute boys was always a plus, and he hadn't found that in glee, no matter what suspicions he had about Sam. But above all else, he felt for once as though he had been truly accepted by the group in a way that the glee club didn't quite manage. With glee, everyone had enough personal drama that Kurt's life got swept under the rug, and quite frankly, all he wanted to feel like he was wanted again. And here he had found another group, which actually made him feel wanted.

"We just have a couple of notices," Erica started, silencing the group, "this Saturday we have the monthly plotter, and we would really love if you could all be there. They're really important to the overall storyline of the roleplay. Besides, they're really important for establishing relationships, but you can still do that in your own time. And ICC and stuff, yeah?"

"ICC?" Kurt whispered to Marley.

"In Character Chat," Marley replied. Kurt nodded. He was going to need to make a glossary for all of the terms that he had acquired.

"We have some big ideas in store for Dreamweaver, so you all should get excited. Any questions?" the group stayed silent, and so Erica dismissed them.

"So what's going on with Darcy and Nightbird? Tell me!" Marley said excitedly.

"I don't really know," Kurt admitted, "they flirted a bit, but I need to ask Blaine, and-" Kurt looked around at the group, but Blaine was already gone. Apparently, any plotting had to wait. "It doesn't matter right now. If something happens then you'll be right there to know about it, right?"

"Right!" Marley agreed.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry about what Karofsky said today. You know none of that was true, right?" Karofsky's words echoed in his mind- _you had to turn to a girl who would suck your dick?_ The last thing Kurt needed was for Karofsky to scare away his potential new friend, and he wanted Marley around in his life. He could use all the friends he could get.

"Yeah, I know," Marley said, offering a supportive smile, "does that sort of thing happen to you a lot?"

"Yeah, but it's alright."

"No, Kurt, it isn't. Does the school know?"

"They don't do anything about it. I've been taking slushies for a long time, even pre-Glee."

"That's awful."

"You shouldn't worry about me." Kurt knew she was just concerned about his wellbeing, but he was also hopeful that she meant it when she said was all right. She seemed pretty shaken earlier in the day.

"Hey, Kurt, it's okay. At least you have this as a safe space, right?" Marley said. Kurt nodded.

"Are we friendly enough that I can hug you now?" Kurt asked, because honestly, he just needed a hug then.

"Of course." Marley held her arms open and let Kurt hug her, closing her arms around him firmly. "I don't believe in doing hugs by halves," she whispered to him, and all he could do was laugh slightly at the sentiment.

* * *

On Friday, Marley tapped Kurt's shoulder hesitantly in the hallway. He turned around to expect far more than the shy girl who stood there, but he wasn't disappointed by the surprise. "Hey!" he greeted, "it's not any less weird the second time." Marley laughed and tightened her hold on the books she was carrying.

"I know! I was just wondering whether or not you were going to go to the social tonight," Marley said.

"Oh, well, I hadn't really thought about it. I don't want to intrude on the group too much too soon, and isn't there a plotting thing tomorrow?"

"Yeah! So tonight is at Luke and Erica's place, and you can kind of turn up whenever, if you're interested. We usually just watch a movie or something, tease Leo and Ethan about how they aren't out doing something with their Friday, _you_ can flirt with Blaine, the usual."

"I can't flirt with him, Marley, I don't know how," Kurt said, "And you're going to be there?"

"That's the plan. Luke and Erica will be there, obviously, and probably Hadley with them. And I'll be having a sleepover with Unique, if you wanted to come? I mean, you don't have to do anything. But the invitation is always there." Marley smiled, and Kurt returned the smile. He wasn't really sure whether or not it was place to go along, or if he would even be wanted by anyone other than Marley.

"I have a family dinner tonight, but I might come along after," Kurt said, making sure that he made no promises. Marley's phone buzzed in her hand, and she quickly opened the message.

"Oh, look at that! Blaine can actually come this week!" Marley said, "I'll see you later, Kurt." She turned into a classroom as they passed it, and suddenly, Kurt couldn't wait until the social.

* * *

"Hey, dad? I'm going to go out after dinner, okay?" Kurt said as he flitted around the kitchen, preparing a few things for dinner alongside Carole. Friday night dinners had always been a tradition in the Hummel household, and the arrival of his new stepmother and stepbrother hadn't altered it in the slightest. It gave Kurt some company while he cooked, and he had another person with hands to slap away from the meal he was preparing, but the family had slotted together _almost_ seamlessly.

"Where are you off to?" Burt asked. Kurt sighed before he responded. He had been expecting the question, since Burt had always been a protective father. He knew that Burt only wanted to know where he could find him in an emergency, or whom he had to hunt down in the case that Kurt was hurt, but it could be a little tiresome.

"A friend's house."

"Which friend?" Burt asked suspiciously, "Tina? Mercedes?"

"Um, no, they're new friends. Erica and Luke," Kurt said, "they host a little gathering every Friday night and a bunch of people who I know from _outside_ school are going to be there, and I really want to go."

"Will there be alcohol?"

"Absolutely not, Luke's younger sister will be there and she's like, thirteen. Luke and Erica are engaged and responsible adults, dad," Kurt threw in, hoping that would make him more lenient.

"Be home by eleven," Burt said, returning to his paper. Finn popped into the kitchen at that moment and didn't hesitate to show that he had a problem with Kurt going out.

"Eleven?" Finn said, "Mom, my curfew is only half past ten! That isn't even fair!"

"And where are you going tonight, mister?" Carole asked, putting down her knife and folding her arms across her chest, showing Finn that she was fully attentive.

"Puck's house," Finn answered.

"And will there be alcohol?" Carole waited for a response or an excuse, before Finn shook his head. "You hesitated."

"Mom!"

"Ten thirty for you. Burt and I will have a discussion about this later, but until then, curfews will stay as usual, okay?" Carole picked her knife up again and continued to chop the vegetables.

"No fair," Finn grumbled, "Kurt gets _everything_."

"The rules will change when Kurt starts behaving more like you do, right?" Carole winked at Kurt, who smiled timidly at his step-mom. He knew what she meant. As it stood, Kurt wasn't one for after school activities, whereas Finn didn't usually come home until half an hour before dinner. If Kurt _was_ out, someone knew where he was, his phone was charged and on him, and he would answer calls from his parents. He wasn't late, and if he even thought he ever would be, he made sure that he texted or called Burt to let him know. Maybe most importantly, he didn't hang out with Puck regularly, and he wasn't dating anyone. Although it shouldn't have had anything to do with curfew, he also suspected that the fact he helped out with cooking and cleaning was in his favour. Finn grumbled some more, but he left the kitchen soon enough to grumble elsewhere.

* * *

After dinner, Kurt was quick to leave the house, fuelled with excitement for the evening ahead. Not really wanting to turn up by himself, he had offered a ride to Marley and Unique, who he picked up from Marley's house. They proved useful in directing him to Erica and Luke's house, since they had been there on plenty of other nights. Kurt was quick to pick up that Unique was transgender (and that she had seen plenty of the New Directions' videos with Marley and had dubbed herself the love child of he and Mercedes), and that Unique was at Carmel High, where she wouldn't join Vocal Adrenaline for much the same reasoning as Marley not joining the New Directions- she was terrified of Jesse St. James, who had been their lead vocalist up until that year. Kurt sympathised- he had never been a fan of Jesse, and after the way he had acted during his brief time in New Directions his dislike for him had only solidified. Even Kurt had to admit he was talented as a performer though, and definitely intimidating with his stage presence.

Kurt parked in the large carport outside Luke and Erica's house and followed Marley and Unique into the house- they walked right in without knocking- and subsequently to the living room. "Hey guys!" Luke greeted, walking over to talk to them, "you know where everything is, right?" he asked Marley and Unique, who nodded, "and Kurt, this is your first time to Casa de Gautier."

"Gautier- _Leathart_ ," Erica corrected from across the room, "we aren't married yet, kiddo."

"Like I was saying before I was _so rudely interrupted_ by my lovely fiancée, this is your first time to Casa De Gautier-Leathart, and you require a grand tour. You know, so you at least know where we keep the sodas and where to find the bathroom." Luke gestured for Kurt to follow him and gave him a full tour of the house, which wasn't huge but was perfectly suitable for the engaged couple. It had a huge garden, but the house itself was tiny for the property size. The couple didn't seem to own a lot of furniture, and the spare bedrooms were almost empty. "I think the idea of the house being small is that we, as the new owners, would renovate and expand, but we have no reason to just yet," Luke explained.

When they got back to the living room Marley and Unique were sitting down, each with a can of soda, and Kurt sat next to them. He finally surveyed the room properly to see who had come along. Aside from Erica, Luke, and Hadley (who, from what Kurt understood, were the staple three members), Unique, Marley and himself, were Leo and Ethan, sharing one of the armchairs, and Jeff, who was sitting on the floor by Erica, engrossed in the conversation. Kurt thought that he seemed a bit lost without Nick.

He didn't have much to contribute to any of the conversations that were going on around him, but he listened in to as many of them as he could. He felt himself getting distracted by his thoughts, which were dragged down by Blaine and his notable absence. He had told Marley he would be there, hadn't he? "Are you alright, Kurt?" Luke asked, startling Kurt from his daydreaming.

"Huh?"

"Can I get you a drink or something? You sort of spaced out there."

"Oh, um, a diet coke, please." Luke nodded and headed off to the kitchen, while Kurt sat up a bit straighter and tried to tune back into Marley and Unique's conversation with Hadley. It had moved on too far from when he had phased out for him to really understand what they were talking about properly.

"You did really well on Wednesday," Luke complimented, handing Kurt the can, "You seemed like a seasoned pro. I wouldn't have guessed that it was your first session."

"Thanks." Kurt forced a smile, despite how uneasy he felt. He was glad to hear that he had done okay. Luke's phone began to ring and he pulled it from his pocket, glancing down at the screen.

"It's Nick, I should take this," Luke said to Kurt, who nodded as Luke swiped at the screen and lifted the phone to his ear. "Nick?" Kurt could hear a voice from the other end, but in nowhere near enough definition to work out what he was saying. "Okay. No, it's fine. Should I come and get you? Sure. Yeah, I'll see you soon." Luke hung up and put the phone back into his pocket. "Blaine and Nick aren't too far away, they just had a few car problems so they're going a little slow," he explained to the group. So that explained Blaine's absence and he was still going to be there. That was enough to make Kurt stay longer. Luke got up again to do something elsewhere, and that left Kurt by himself once more.

He was startled from his daydream again when Jeff scrambled to his feet and dashed across the room, throwing his arms around one of the new arrivals. "Nicky!" he yelled, hugging Nick tightly. Blaine looked tiny and lonely in comparison to the pair, as he quietly walked around them into the room. He smiled at Kurt, and Kurt felt his heart do somersaults as Blaine walked over to him.

"Hey," Blaine greeted, sitting down on the couch next to him, "how are you?"

"Good," Kurt said, and immediately scolded himself for it being the best he could come up with on the spot.

"I haven't properly introduced myself to you, and my parents would be appalled. I'm Blaine, and I play Nightbird." He extended his hand, and Kurt shook it.

"I'm Kurt. I play Darcy, but I'm really new to all that."

"You would never have guessed. It's a little odd that our characters met first, huh?" the way that Blaine grinned at Kurt could make anyone melt, and Kurt did the best he could to physically _not_ disappear into the seat.

"Not to completely change the topic, but who drove over?" Kurt asked.

"Nick did, but it's my car," Blaine said, too quickly, as though he was a child trying to impress Kurt with the details of the possession. He wasn't entirely sure that it wasn't the case, but he didn't dare ask.

"Would you mind if I took a look at it?" Blaine nodded, though he was visibly shocked at the question, and led Kurt out to his car. "Sorry," he said, "I fix things when I get nervous. I don't have any costumes to straighten or make up to touch up." Kurt lifted the hood and effortlessly began to check off what the problem likely wasn't, until he reached a final decision. "I'm not exactly an expert, but I think that you need to change the oil."

"Look who the hero is now," Blaine said, "thank you, Kurt."

"You're welcome. My dad's a mechanic, so I'm kind of used to being around this stuff. Am I interested enough to inherit the shop? No, not at all, but I do know enough to solve the basics." Blaine laughed, much to Kurt's delight, and stood close enough to him to bump shoulders as they walked inside.

All too soon they got swept up in different conversations and then it was ten-thirty what felt like only a minute later, and Kurt decided to head home. Burt and Carole were glad to see him home before curfew (especially since Finn hadn't stuck to his and was late), and he went to bed with thoughts of Blaine drifting through his head. _Look who the hero is now_ , Kurt repeated to himself, and he was sure he slept with a smile on his face.

* * *

Kurt finally came down from his Blaine induced daydream by lunchtime the next day. His good mood didn't go unnoticed by his family, and Carole was quick to ask what had him in such high spirits as she watched Kurt dart around the kitchen, preparing his meal. "It's nothing," Kurt said, closing the fridge. Carole obviously didn't believe him, but she didn't push the subject any further. He wondered how long it would take her to pester it out of him.

He tried to get some homework done that afternoon before the plotting session that evening, but quickly got distracted by his open Facebook page. He clicked the small red (1) hovering above the friend request icon, and saw enough to send his heart soaring again. _Blaine Anderson, four mutual friends._ He clicked the accept button without a second thought, but then couldn't get any more work done with his thoughts trained on Blaine.

He didn't expect to have a chat window pop up in the corner of the screen, and had to give himself a moment to compose before he even dared to think of a reply.

**Blaine:** _Hey, Kurt :D_

**Blaine:** _Are you going to be at the plotter tonight?_

**Blaine:** _I have a couple of things to talk about before then._

Of course, a polite, all business message. He rolled his eyes at how he had so quickly blown the situation out of proportion.

**Kurt:** _Hi :) Yeah, I'll be there._

**Kurt:** _What did you want to say?_

**Blaine:** _It's about our characters. I think I have a plot for them._

**Blaine:** _Only if you're comfortable with it, though. I wanted to ask before the plotter so I didn't embarrass you (or myself) tonight_

Blaine had been planning a plot for them, that he wasn't sure Kurt would be comfortable with. He was very, very intrigued.

**Kurt:** _I'm listening. Do tell._

**Blaine:** _I think that Darcy and Nightbird should be an item._

**Kurt:** _As in, they should date?_

**Blaine:** _Exactly._

Kurt grabbed his pillow from his bed and squealed into it, hoping like crazy that he had managed to be quiet enough for the sound not to travel out of his room.

**Kurt:** _That would be great :)_

**Blaine:** _I was just thinking that they were kind of flirty on Wednesday, and that was just their first meeting._

**Kurt:** _Yeah, I think it could be really fun to play, too._

**Blaine:** _Definitely!_

**Blaine:** _They can ease into it, it's probably not so wise for us to turn up on Monday and announce their relationship._

**Kurt:** _They need to figure it out for themselves still ;)_

**Blaine:** _hahaha, yes._

**Blaine:** _I'm really glad that you joined that group, Kurt._

**Kurt:** _Me too._

* * *

Kurt made an effort to sit next to Marley at the plotting session, since she had so easily become one of his best friends. It seemed as though everyone from the roleplay was there, though he couldn't be sure if there were others he simply hadn't met yet. It was the most formally structured meeting Kurt had ever been to, as he found when Hadley passed him a print-out of the agenda. Erica stood at the front of the room fielding questions while Luke sat nearby with a laptop, taking notes.

"Anyone have anything else to add?" Erica asked, crossing _back stories_ from the big list on the whiteboard (which Kurt still couldn't believe they had set up for the meeting). The group remained silent, and she continued. "Great, next item, then. Changes to relationships? Just for the purpose of the larpwriter, so title changes, really. So like, acquaintances to friends, or enemies to friends, or friends to enemies. We don't care about the details." Kurt looked over at Blaine, who smiled gently at him from across the room.

"Nightbird and Darcy from 'professional relationship' to 'romantically involved'," Blaine said. Kurt immediately felt all ten pairs of eyes on him, and willed himself not to blush. Erica smirked, as though to convey that she had seen it coming, but turned to Luke and repeated it anyway.

"I thought you said you couldn't flirt," Marley whispered, nudging Kurt lightly.

" _I can't_. But as it turns out, Darcy's not so bad," he whispered back. Marley nodded knowingly, and didn't mind when Kurt dropped the topic in favour of listening to what Erica was saying.

The plotter didn't take as long as Kurt expected it to, and he couldn't wait to talk to Blaine after it ended- but it seemed as though as soon as Kurt worked up the nerve to approach him, he scanned the room, and Blaine was gone.

Erica walked over to him and greeted him by saying, "so Darcy and Nightbird are getting it on, huh?"

"They aren't even dating yet. They flirted _once_ , and then Blaine and I decided that it's a plot worth playing out," Kurt said, trying to sound detached from the situation.

"No correlation to anything happening out of character, then?" Erica asked, raising an eyebrow, "you ought to get cosier to make it obvious for us all. Be more like Leo and Ethan!" she gestured to the couple, who were standing almost literally joined at the hip as they talked to Marley.

"There's nothing to make obvious. I've barely even talked to Blaine. He just runs off so quickly."

"Yeah, he has some family stuff going on, I think. And he's way shyer than he lets on. Like, he is such a performer, he definitely loves the limelight, but then you take him off a stage and he just falls apart at the seams as soon as you try to ask him any serious questions. He's a master of small talk, though. He just has... high walls. He won't let anyone in too quickly."

"So he doesn't usually hang around for any of this social stuff?" Kurt clarified.

"Yeah, last night was the first time he had been to a social in months. And you know there's only one thing that's changed in the group since last week." Erica winked at him, watching as the information settled with him. "I'll see you later, Kurt."

If Blaine had been mysterious before, he was an enigma now- a puzzle that Kurt hoped he could solve. He was falling for him fast as it was, and it both terrified and excited him just how much harder he could crash if Blaine would let him in.


	4. Back Stories

Kurt was too stunned to speak, think, or feel. He was working purely on muscle memory, racing to his car and climbing inside, locking the doors around him and choking back a sob. Things had never been good with Karofsky, but this was so much worse. Kurt had no idea what had overcome him when he thought it had been a good idea to stand up to him, but now he was left with a whole new set of emotions.

Karofsky had taken away his first real kiss. Was he even gay? It certainly seemed that way, and the way that he was constantly picking on Kurt- every single insult being about his sexuality- it suddenly made sense for Karofsky to just be that deep in the closet.

He made it home in one piece, barely even registering that he had driven home, and stumbled into his bedroom before collapsing on the bed. He couldn't cry. He just didn't have it in him. He was just stunned beyond words, and his thoughts wouldn't shut up, replaying every moment of the awful kiss. He had made out with Brittany that one time, and had chosen not to count it, on the grounds that she wasn't a boy and he was gay. He didn't have the same excuse with Karofsky.

Kurt wanted his safe space. He wanted it to be five o'clock so he could go to Marley's house and slip on Darcy and leave Kurt and his problems behind.

He opened his laptop, and he began to write.

_When Darcy was seventeen he was kissed by his high school bully,_ he started, and began to vent everything, changing the details enough to make it perfectly fictional. Then, he sent it to Luke so he could add the story to Darcy's profile. It might not have been the nicest or the best written back story, but it added some depth that the character so clearly needed.

Kurt's phone buzzed on the desk next to him within a matter of minutes.

**Luke G.** _Kurt, I just read your Darcy back story. Everything okay?_

**Kurt H.** _I think so. It will be, anyway._

**Luke G.** _Cool! Hey, I don't want to assume anything, but are you as not-straight as Darcy is?_

**Kurt H.** _I'm gay, yes. And so is Darcy._

**Luke G.** _Openly so?_

**Kurt H.** _Both of us._

**Luke G.** _Darcy is the second openly gay and fourth overall gay character. Just so you know._

**Kurt H.** _And out of character?_

**Luke G.** _You're the fourth there too, but they don't line up perfectly with the characters._

**Kurt H.** _Ah, okay. Thank you._

**Luke G.** _No worries. I just want you to know that you're perfectly accepted in our roleplay, sexuality or not. Dreamweaver has enough crazy stuff going on that two guys dating is barely a weird thing._

**Kurt H.** _And I'm glad it works that way :)_

* * *

Monday's session at Marley's house had been exactly what Kurt needed to get his upset over the Karofsky ordeal out of his head. Darcy manned the bar for the whole session and gossiped with the various civilian characters that he encountered, and the highlight of his night was when Nightbird swung by the bar to officially ask Darcy on a date.

On Wednesday they were back at the park, and Kurt focussed on keeping Darcy entertained until his big first date. "Carlton, don't you think you spend too much time here? Shouldn't you, I don't know, be on duty or something?" Kurt said to Ethan. He found that the most recent times he had been with the roleplay he had found it easier to slip into Darcy's life and mannerisms, and he consciously knew where it was that Darcy stopped and Kurt began. He was beginning to see that Darcy was a character, living in an entirely fictitious town, but that he still differed from Kurt in enough ways to almost be his own, full person.

"Hey, I just have a lot of time off at that moment. The heroes handle the big stuff, and that leaves me to run around after petty crimes, and that damn blond Hughes kid who is always getting himself into trouble," Ethan replied. Kurt had found that Darcy did indeed spend a lot of time with Constable Carlton, and as everyone had assured him that he would, he loved roleplaying with Ethan, because he was a genuinely lovely person out of character and wonderful at what he did when he was in Carlton's head.

"Braxton?" Kurt said, raising an eyebrow, "he's a good kid. Just a little bit attention seeking."

"You know him?" Kurt nodded.

"Family friend. Our mothers are really close. Hasn't stopped him from coming in here three times in the last week, though." Jeff has been the one to suggest the relationship between their characters. Enough to give them reason to interact, but not so much that it wasn't plausible. Kurt knew he would never have thought of it and was glad he had the more experienced people around him making decisions.

"His friend- the one with the brown hair who has too much enthusiasm- seems to keep him out of trouble. But lately that one's been a bit quieter, and I think he has a girlfriend or something."

"Girlfriend?" Kurt asked, knowing that there were only a handful of girls who were actively played in the roleplay, and none of them were interested in dating a high school aged character.

"Yeah, I think. He certainly seemed to blush a lot when I heard Braxton talking loudly to him about his 'special friend'."

"Have you thought that maybe... it's a not a girl?" Kurt said, "It's quite a gender neutral term. Maybe he has a boyfriend? Or maybe they just aren't ready to make it official?"

"Maybe. It doesn't bother me _that_ much."

"I suppose it wouldn't." Kurt looked over to see that Blaine was walking over to them and smiled to himself, "hey, Carlton, not to drive you out, but we're closing up a little early tonight, okay?"

"Hey, it's fine. You're expecting company, aren't you?" Ethan winked at Kurt and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll get out of your hair." Ethan scurried off towards Jeff, Nick and Leo before Blaine could even get close.

"Evening, Darcy," Blaine said as he approached the imaginary bar, "I believe we have a date tonight." Kurt could feel his heart doing somersaults. He immediately made sure to reality check himself- this was a date between Darcy and Nightbird, and he couldn't let any of his own feelings get in the way of what Darcy was going to get out of it.

"Indeed we do." Kurt pretended to walk around the bar that wasn't there and stepped towards Blaine. "What did you have in mind for this date?"

"I don't have a lot of time, so I was thinking that maybe we could just take a walk around the park. _I_ just want to get to know you better."

"Will you fly me home at the end of the night?" Kurt said teasingly. Blaine pouted at him, folding his arms.

"I'm wounded. If you had asked nicely I might have considered it."

"Oh sweetie, I didn't know you were so self conscious about your flying abilities. I thought White Wings had raised you better than that," Kurt continued to tease.

"You're lucky you're cute." Blaine extended a hand to Kurt. He didn't hesitate for a moment before he took it, immediately captivated by how soft and strong Blaine's hand felt. He knew he had a huge crush on Blaine- he was never denying that- but he could have sworn that their hands fitted together almost too perfectly. "Besides, I'm an old fashioned kind of guy. I don't fly boys home until the third date, no matter how cute."

Kurt laughed. "Oh, fine then. So, Mister Nightbird, tell me more about you. How did you get into heroism?"

"Actually, it's kind of a long story. How close to the end should I start?"

"Start with how you began working with White Wings," Kurt suggested.

"Well, I was actually picked by JetCat for villainy, originally."

Kurt gasped dramatically. "What? No."

"Yes! I didn't work with her for very long. I only went on a couple of missions. She just wanted someone there to take the blame, which meant I spent a lot of time talking to White Wings. He told me that if I became his apprentice I wouldn't have to go to prison for it, since I apparently didn't actually look like a villain."

"Too much hair gel."

"Hey, no fair. Anyway, that's why I'm _Night_ bird. She's Jet, as in jet black, and I needed an equally clever darkness. But by then the name had stuck, and the bird imagery fitted with White's anyway. So, what brings you to Dreamweaver, Darcy?"

"My family- I grew up north of elsewhere, moved across the country for university and studied in France for a year. While I was tripping around my family decided to move here and open the bar, or, as my dad says, The Peterson Family Tavern. I'm living at home until the lease for my new apartment comes through, and as soon as I can get my journalism break that's what I plan to do."

"But if you fall into just journalism you won't have a bar to defend anymore," Blaine said with a pout, "and I won't be able to flirt with you on the job. I doubt your parents are as much fun to do that with."

"Please don't hit on my parents." Blaine laughed.

"You think I'm just hitting on you because I hit on everyone?"

" _Should_ I think that?"

"Not at all. This is a proper date, okay? I really like you, and I want to get to know you better so I can keep liking you a lot."

"Good," Kurt said, "I like you a lot, too." Blaine smiled at him infectiously, and he just had to smile back.

"Do you know many people from around town yet?"

"Let's see... I know you. I've met Glameow," Blaine nodded as though to say _met, huh?_ "Unique Hutchsworth, who I'm told is very famous, and Yvonne Tigressa, who I'm told is also very famous, come by a lot and we gossip so they're the closest I have to friends. Constable Carlton spends quite a bit of time in here too, so we've talked a lot. And there's this kid, I don't know if you would know him, called Braxton Hughes. He's the blond one that's always getting into trouble, and he's a family friend. And that's everyone."

"You haven't even talked to White?" Blaine asked with mock surprise, "That couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that I've begged to take all the missions concerning you now, has it?"

"You do that?"

"Maybe. But now you've agreed to go out with me and I _know_ you're just holding out for that third date when I'll fly you home, he can deal with the bigger stuff again."

"Well aren't you confident, mister. Who said the date was going so well that I wanted to commit to another _two_?" Kurt teased.

"You know, if you count the break in and the time I formally asked you to go with me, we've already had two dates and this is the third," Blaine said.

"So you want to fly me home now?"

"See! I knew you were just waiting for me to fly you somewhere." By the end of Darcy and Nightbird's date, Kurt was feeling a lot better than he had before he had come to the session. He had laughed a lot, and the banter was nice. He couldn't care less whether or not it had all been fictional. They stayed hand in hand as they walked over to the bench when they saw that the others were slowly migrating towards it, and just as they were getting there Blaine turned to Kurt. "I really hope that there will be another date, Darcy," he said.

Kurt nodded. "Absolutely." Blaine looked around quickly, before he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek. He immediately tapped the bench twice, and Kurt followed promptly. He could have sworn Blaine hesitated for a moment before dropping his hand.

* * *

The next date for Darcy and Nightbird came sooner than Kurt expected. Blaine messaged him and informed him that he was going to be at the social on Friday, and asked if Kurt was going to be there not. Regardless of his plans (or lack thereof), Kurt was quick to decide that he was indeed going to be there.

When he arrived, he walked right into the house the same way all the others did the week before, and was greeted by everyone when he entered the living room. He even went as far as to help himself to a diet coke from the fridge before he sat down next to Leo and Ethan. Though he and Ethan had talked a lot in character, they had barely even spoken to each other out of character, and he wasn't sure he had so much as said hi to Leo. They were quick to fall into comfortable conversation, and Kurt realised how nice it was to have proper gay friends- because as much as Rachel Berry aspired to be one, she just didn't quite fit the criteria.

Erica popped over to their little group after a while and said, "We're going to have a social LARP tonight, if enough people are interested. Just like, half an hour, and soon."

"Yeah, that would be good," Ethan said, "but you will probably need to get off me, Leo." Leo shrugged and didn't go anywhere. Kurt was the first to take the cue to move.

"Uh, Erica," she turned to him, "what do we use to signify going out of character without the bench? When we're here?" He knew the drill for everywhere else. At Marley's house it was the TV, at Leo's it was the kitchen table, at Hadley's it was the bookcase, at Unique's it was walking back inside after spending the session in her garden away from her parents.

"Good point. We don't actually have a protocol in the same way for social LARPs, but unofficially I think it's the fridge. People tend to go and get another drink once they're ready to stop." Kurt didn't bother asking for any further direction. As soon as the session started, Blaine gravitated towards him, and almost wordlessly they found themselves sitting on the porch swing outside.

"Why are you doing it?" Kurt asked, "Being a hero, I mean."

"I have a lot of goals with it," Blaine replied.

"Do tell."

"I want to help people, obviously. I like to feel wanted- needed, even. And I want to be that first golden ticket superhero, the one who can proudly be the first openly gay superhero and empower a whole lot of kids along with it. I know it doesn't seem a lot in a town like Dreamweaver, but what if the message manages to spread across to another town or two? Then I'll really be making a mark."

"That's a nice goal."

"I feel like there's a story to go along with that sentiment," Blaine said. Kurt shook his head.

"Oh, it's nothing. But when I was back in high school, I really could have used a hero, and now I've finally got one." Blaine took his hand, running his thumb over the back of it soothingly.

"You have a whole team of Defenders, Ku-Darcy. There's nothing to be scared of here." Kurt pretended not to notice his slip.

"But what if one day I leave the town, for some reason? Then I've got all that stuff to face still."

"We can do it together, okay?" Blaine said. "Look at me. I'm here for you. It doesn't matter what's going on outside of Dreamweaver while you're living here, because the world- or at least the town- is your oyster. And if you ever feel like leaving, the town will do it can to make you stay. I'm not even kidding; they can pull some pretty big strings."

"Together, huh?" Kurt teased, "That sounds like a plan for the future."

"There are some awful people in the world, and I never want you to have to be caught up in any of that. If that means you're stuck with me forever, so be it."

"You don't sound too upset about that."

"I know this is a second date, Darcy, but I feel really good about it- about us."

"Me too, I-" Kurt started, before a figure jumped around the corner, startling him.

"Nightbird," Erica said, "pleasure as always." She walked slowly closer with a certain sway in her hips that Kurt didn't think he had seen from her before. He hadn't had a chance to observe Erica as so thoroughly JetCat before, since the week she had had her cast removed was the week Kurt had chosen to join in with the roleplay. His focus had been elsewhere ever since.

Blaine stood up, dropping Kurt's hand in the process. "What do you want, Jet?" he said with a sigh, sounding bored above anything else. "I'm off duty. Take it up with White."

"Oh, sweetie. We used to be such good friends. What happened to the adorable, villainous boy I groomed all those years ago? You're not even polite enough to introduce me to your friend here." She smiled sickly sweetly, and Blaine's hands twitched at his sides.

"You don't _get_ to meet the people who are important to me! I know you have people to do your research for you, and I'm not going to make their job easier."

"But what if I wanted information about _you_? From _him_?" Erica stepped closer to the swing, closer to Kurt, and Blaine was quick to step between them.

"You're not going anywhere near him."

"Nightbird?" Kurt said quietly. Blaine turned to him and offered him a hand, so Kurt took it and stood up. Blaine took his hand again and looked him deep in the eyes.

"I'm sorry for messing up our date," Blaine said, "but I need you to go, Darcy."

"But... it was going so well..." Kurt said. He knew exactly what Blaine meant, but Darcy was completely cut up about it. Darcy couldn't believe that they were just talking about how well their relationship was going, and now Nightbird was asking him to leave. Blaine opened his mouth to say something, but Kurt cut in. "No, it's fine. You need to be someone else's hero. I'll get used to sharing." And then he left, heading back inside to wait for the session to end. It wasn't that he didn't want to play anymore, it was that he knew Darcy was standing squarely in a plot that he didn't need to be in that night. He wasn't sure whether to be thrilled or terrified to see how it would all develop on Monday.

Blaine found him in the kitchen after doing whatever it was with Erica, and Kurt smiled at him. "Kurt," Blaine said firmly, stopping him from running from the situation, "you were just being a convincing Darcy, right? You're not actually mad at me for telling you to leave? Because I didn't, I swear, it was just Nightbird. I still want to continue with our plot, if it's okay with you."

"Oh, yeah, I want to keep going with it too," Kurt said, "Darcy might be a bit upset, though."

"Speaking of which, I think I should give you some heads up, since Darcy won't get it- Erica has plans in the works for a full plot involving everyone. Tonight was just the first little piece of that. Jet's starting at Darcy, and slowly working to bring down the Defenders- which won't work, clearly- but there's a lot resting on the shoulders of the civilians. Great plot idea, except you... may find yourself kidnapped."

"Oh. Well, Darcy will get over that date, then. He might be a bit heartbroken come Monday, but once they click again he'll be fine."

"Right! That's good. I really like dat- roleplaying. I like roleplaying with you." Blaine blushed, and Kurt figured that was about his slip. He couldn't even bring himself to imagine how that could have finished, _I really like dating you_ being the most obvious one on his mind. Things with Blaine just weren't like that, no matter how much flirted in character.

"Me too," Kurt said, offering Blaine a small smile.

When Kurt got home he avoided his parents and instead went straight to his bedroom. He threw himself face down on his bed and grinned into his pillow, because Blaine was _adorable_. It was a new feeling for him, certainly. Never before had he had such a sudden and strong reaction to another person. He wasn't in love with Blaine; he would never let himself jump immediately to that point. But he could definitely see himself being in love with him in the future. He lay on his bed for a long time, mustering up the courage to formulate a plan about when and how he would win Blaine over. He was silly to think that Blaine would ever like him, but he was so, so hopeful- and some days, when Blaine acted the way he had earlier, offering him support and flirting in character and blushing around him out of character... he could imagine the feeling being mutual.


	5. Serious Talk

Monday at school was no better than the week before. Kurt didn't even want to show up, but he didn't want to give the jocks the satisfaction, either. He needed to show Karofsky that he was untouchable. Between a stolen kiss and a death threat, Kurt wasn't thrilled at the prospect of seeing him.

The rest of the social on Friday night had been uneventful, but the talk that Darcy had had with Nightbird had helped a lot. He had chosen to take the advice to heart and remember that he had a whole crew of heroes to back him up and a town that never wanted him to leave. He wished that Blaine was there to offer him words of support through the day, to remind him about the heroes and keep him focussing on how the LARP that night would go, this week at Hadley's house.

His phone buzzed at the end of his first class for the day.

**Blaine A.** _You can be a hero yourself, Kurt._

**Blaine A.** _Courage._

Kurt didn't know how to reply, but he didn't think that Blaine needed a response. Kurt just smiled down at his phone, happy with how one tiny word could change so much.

It only took a few hours before Karofsky stopped helping Kurt feel like he was untouchable and started to attack him again. He seemed to have amped it up since the kiss, clearly trying to assert his 'heterosexuality' for his jock friends. "Hey, fairy!" he called, and Kurt just kept walking down the stairs to get to his class in the rapidly clearing hallway, "you like to spend time on your knees, right?" Karofsky taunted. The hair on the back of Kurt's neck began to rise as he felt someone walk up behind him. There was a hand on his back and a shove, and then everything went black.

* * *

Kurt didn't even remember what had happened when he woke up in the nurse's office with his dad standing over him, shaking his arm lightly.

"Kurt?" Burt asked gently, "You awake, buddy? The nurse says that I can take you home so long as you can stand up."

Kurt lifted his arm to rub his eye and winced at the shooting pain through it. "'m'wake," he grumbled, "I wanna go home now."

"The nurse said you had a pretty nasty fall. You're lucky not to have broken anything, but you hit your head, bud, completely blacked out. You might be a little concussed." Kurt sat up slowly and shakily got to his feet, looking around the room. Finn was sitting in a chair and looked petrified. "You can go back to class now, Finn. Kurt's up and he'll be fine." Kurt wasn't sure he believed that, but he was willing to pretend.

"Thanks for your help," the nurse said to Finn.

"What did he do?" Kurt asked. He really had no understanding of what had happened between Karofsky's hand on his back and him waking up in the nurse's office. He wanted to blame the concussion for that, but having fainted altogether really didn't help at all.

"His friend Noah found you during class and the boys carried you in here, since you were out. We decided not to ask what Noah was doing out of class."

"Well, it doesn't take much to guess when it's Puckerman," Kurt said.

"Not the point," Burt said, "he helped out, okay? Now let's get you home."

Kurt fell asleep as soon as got into his bed. He felt awful in every aspect of the word. He was dizzy, he couldn't look at his phone for his eyes being light sensitive, and he couldn't concentrate on anything. Every time he tried to do anything he found himself tuning out and completely forgetting the small details of everything going on. He wanted to vomit. To make everything worse, his whole body ached. He was a bit fuzzy on the details of the fall, which everyone told him was normal for a minor head injury, but he knew one thing- that he didn't fall at all. He was pushed.

Carole brought dinner up to his room and he thanked her for it, before realising that dinner time probably meant he had missed the LARP session and he hadn't even told anyone that he wasn't going to be there. He hoped he wasn't screwing up the plots too much by not being there.

When he finally braved squinting at his phone again, he had a handful of texts from various members of the roleplay.

**Blaine A.** _Are you coming tonight?_

**Blaine A.** _Looks like Nightbird is getting stood up tonight. Don't worry about it or anything, I hope you're okay?_

**Marley R.** _Are you avoiding us or something?_

**Luke G.** _Hey man, we missed you tonight. I take it that it was sudden, since no one knows where you are. Just let us know you're okay, Kurt. Unless you aren't. Then let us know how to fix it._

**Hadley G.** _B says ur ignrn hm. U rnt tho r u?_

**Erica L.** _Everyone is all worried about you all of a sudden but I told them you were probably fine and to stop worrying. Give me a call and I'll let you know what went down tonight when you're ready._

He wasn't sure how to react to the messages, and decided that Erica's was the most rational and that he would definitely need to call her as soon as he had texted the one person who was arguably more important.

**Kurt H.** _Sorry Blaine, it was a big day and I slept through the session. I doubt my dad would have let me go anyway :/ reschedule that date that Nightbird got stood up for?_

Erica answered on the second ring. _"Kurt! Nice to hear from you."_

"Hey, Erica. Sorry that I missed the session. Everything's fine, nothing to worry about."

" _Okay, that's great. Did you just get like, twenty-four hour flu, or...?"_ she asked.

"Um, no, I fell down some stairs and have been asleep for the last few hours, but nothing serious. I'll be back playing on Wednesday, promise." He didn't think he sounded very convincing, and Erica certainly didn't sound like she believed it either.

" _Alright, well, I'll let you go sleep some more or whatever. I'll let everyone know that you're okay. Nothing interesting happened; I put off the major plot until you were there. Darcy is kind of important."_

"Can you just mention that I'm not ignoring anyone and it just hurts to look at my phone too much?" Kurt asked.

" _Yeah, sure, I'll pass that on. Do you want me to tell them that you fell?"_ Erica sounded concerned, but Kurt was glad that she gave him the option.

"Oh, no. I don't want to give them any reason to worry about me."

" _Okay, Kurt. Get better. We'll see you soon."_ They said their goodbyes and Kurt hung up to see that a text had come through.

**Blaine A.** _Yeah, of course :) get some rest, Kurt._

He was asleep just about as soon as he finished his dinner.

* * *

Burt refused to let Kurt go to school the next day so that he could recover. He found himself on strict bed rest even without either of his parents there during the day to enforce it, simply because he found that every time he moved he had balance issues. It took him much longer than he was proud of to think about turning down the brightness on his phone, but once it was sufficiently dulled he was able to use it without any hassles.

He started by sending a text to Tina and Mercedes, versions of the same thing- telling them that he wasn't at school because he wasn't feeling very well, but not to visit. They agreed to organise people from his classes to inform him of the homework.

Kurt realised very soon that being stuck in bed all day was boring. He had nothing to do and no one to entertain him, and he couldn't very well get up to collect anything without living in fear that he would fall over or drop something. Carole had brought him water bottles and food to last him the day so he didn't have to make it any further than his desk to get lunch or snacks, and the bathroom was close enough that he didn't worry about it too much. He did have his phone though, and he thought that it could be enough.

**Kurt H.** _Are you in class?_

**Blaine A.** _Yeah, aren't you?_

**Kurt H.** _...and you're going to risk texting me?_

**Blaine A.** _Indeed, but you didn't answer my question._

**Kurt H.** _I'm not. I'm at home on strict recovery._

**Blaine A.** _I hope you feel better soon :) need entertaining, then?_

**Kurt H.** _Yes! Not to distract you from your studies, or anything._

**Blaine A.** _It's fine, it isn't like it's an important class and it's nearly over._

Kurt grinned to himself. It wasn't every day that the guy you had complete and utter crush on wanted to text you so much that he put you before his classes. Or at least, it wasn't every day that it happened to him. Come to think of it, most guys he knew would take any distraction from their school work. Blaine was at Dalton and surely they were stricter about phones in class than at McKinley.

**Kurt H.** _I won't even ask._

**Blaine A.** _Nick and Jeff are in this class too, they can fill me in later._

**Kurt H.** _Do they do ANYTHING without being together?_

**Blaine A.** _Not really. They're kind of a package deal._

Kurt had noticed that they seemed permanently joined at the hip. Apparently it was a wide spread thing and wasn't confined to the roleplay.

**Kurt H.** _Are they like, a thing?_

He wasn't sure if that was something he was really meant to ask. Luke had given him numbers on the gay characters versus the gay players, and he couldn't work out exactly where the overlap was.

**Blaine A.** _In an officially official way, no. But they're really close and neither of them likes to talk about sexualities._

**Kurt H.** _And you predict...?_

**Blaine A.** _They're going to date in the future, but the time's not right yet._

**Blaine A.** _Ooh, class is over! Home time :D_

**Kurt H.** _So I can stop worrying about distracting you?_

**Blaine A.** _You have no faith in my attention span._

**Kurt H.** _Because you're like a puppy personified. You know, judging from all the times you've actually stuck around long enough to hang out._

**Blaine A.** _My parents keep me on a short leash._

**Kurt H.** _Ah, I see._

**Blaine A.** _I messed up, that wasn't an intentional puppy pun._

**Blaine A.** _Unless you like puns._

**Blaine A.** _I know you're on bed rest, but are you up to visitors?_

**Kurt H.** _Not that I've told anyone._

**Blaine A.** _I'm on my way to Lima now, so it was just a thought._

Blaine wanted to visit him. He was never going to stop that boy from seeing him, not now and not ever.

**Blaine A.** _Also, sorry if I take a long time to respond, Ethan's a chatterer and he has sing-alongable music tastes._

**Kurt H.** _Oh? What business do you have in Lima?_

**Kurt H.** _And it's fine, my short term memory's still not great and I have to keep rereading your texts to remember where I was going with this._

**Blaine A.** _Ethan always drives me over on Tuesdays after school. He's there for Leo while I'm there for Hadley._

_Oh._ He drove all the way over to Lima to see Hadley weekly outside of the roleplay. Maybe they really were a couple. With everything that had been going on with Nightbird and Darcy, Kurt had let himself hope that Blaine was gay, since Nightbird was so openly out and proud about it. It wasn't an assumption he should have made, especially with what Luke had told him. He decided to change the topic.

**Kurt H.** _Leo and Ethan are cute together._

**Blaine A.** _Yeah, we like to call them Lethan. They have been together for so long now that they may as well be one person._

**Kurt H.** _They're as joined at the hip as Nick and Jeff._

**Blaine A.** _Niff :3_

**Kurt H.** _Do you do this with every couple you encounter? Also, who is "we"?_

**Blaine A.** _...Maybe? I like portmanteaus. I've never had one for Luke and Erica. Hadley and I, mostly, but she calls them "ship names"._

There he was with the Hadley talk again.

**Kurt H.** _I like Ericuke. Except Lerica probably flows nicer._

**Kurt H.** _Wait no, Lurica._

**Blaine A.** _Lurica it is. They're a bit better at being their own people._

**Kurt H.** _What about Nightbird and Darcy?_

**Blaine A.** _Hmmm... Darcebird._

**Kurt H.** _Nightarcy?_

**Blaine A.** _Okay, I like that one better. No fair, you're too good._

**Kurt H.** _I'm sorry, it's a talent I didn't know I had._

**Blaine A.** _Aww, embrace it!_

**Blaine A.** _Kurt, I need to go now, Hadley needs my full attention, more than school._

**Kurt H.** _It's fine, I might take a nap or something._

**Blaine A.** _Kurt, are you okay?_

**Kurt H.** _Totally._

**Blaine A.** _Now answer it honestly._

**Kurt H.** _I'm not so great._

**Blaine A.** _I really need to go now, but call me in about twenty minutes to talk about that, okay?_

**Kurt H.** _Thank you._

Exactly twenty-one minutes later, Kurt called Blaine, feeling like he could actually survive a conversation about the stairs encounter. He hadn't managed to tell his dad that he was pushed yet, or even that Karofsky had threatened him the way he had the week before. Burt knew about the bullying, but he didn't know that it had ever gotten quite as bad as it had.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang.

Finally, after dialling for a second time, the phone was answered. _"Hello?"_ spoke a voice, far more feminine and high pitched than Blaine's smooth voice.

"Um, hi? Is Blaine there?" Kurt asked. It was a reasonable question, considering that it was Blaine's phone that he had called.

" _He went to the bathroom. Can I help you?"_

"...Who am I talking to?"

" _This is Hadley,"_ the voice , of course it was. They were close enough to answer each other's phones.

"Can you tell Blaine that Kurt called when he get back? I mean, he asked me to call him now..."

" _Why would you call him?"_ she snapped. Kurt had always thought that Hadley was such a sweet young girl, but this side to her was entirely different and he didn't know what to think. She was incredibly defensive.

"He asked me to, like I said. We were going to talk about some stuff," Kurt said, trying to give her reason enough to stop without saying _I'm concussed because I was pushed down some stairs by a closeted jock yesterday_ , which he hadn't really told anyone and he was sure that she wouldn't understand it.

" _Stuff? The kind of stuff you can't tell me about, huh?"_

"Yeah, it's quite personal and doesn't really concern you."

" _But he's my boyfriend!"_ And there it was. Every suspicion that Kurt had was seemingly confirmed in one sentence. _"Hadley, is that my phone?"_ Kurt heard Blaine say in the background before the line went dead. Kurt felt like crying.

Blaine called back less than five minutes later. Kurt waited a couple of rings before answering, so that he didn't seem too eager. _"Kurt?"_ Blaine said with his voice full of concern. It made Kurt feel calm almost immediately.

"Yeah, hi," he said, "I didn't mean to interrupt anything with Hadley..."

" _She told you we were dating."_ Blaine sighed.

"She did."

" _We_ aren't _dating."_ Kurt wasn't sure how to respond. _"Hey Kurt, I'm done here now, are you up for a visitor?"_

"Um, yeah, sure. You'll have to let yourself in though; I can't really get downstairs by myself. I don't think that Finn's here yet otherwise I would ask him to do it."

" _Okay, I can manage that. I'll just call Ethan to say I'm at yours instead of Hadley's, and then I'll be right over."_ They said their momentary goodbyes and Kurt put his phone down and started counting items in his room again.

True to his word, about fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the front door followed by the soft click of it opening. "Kurt?" Blaine called out.

"Upstairs, first door on the left," Kurt called back, and then waited as he heard the sound of Blaine's footsteps on the stairs. He knocked softly on Kurt's bedroom door too before he stepped inside. "Hey," Kurt said, suddenly remembering that he hadn't done his hair all day. Why couldn't that have been what he did while Blaine was on his way over?

"Hey, Kurt. We have a lot to talk about now, don't we?" Blaine said with an uneasy laugh, pulling Kurt's desk chair up to the side of the bed. Kurt sat up against the headboard a little more.

"Where do we start?"

Blaine took a deep breath. "What happened at school yesterday, Kurt?"

"If you want yesterday to make sense we need to back up a bit."

"I've got time."

It was Kurt's turn to inhale. "I have been bullied well, my entire high school experience, even before I came out. The jocks were so damn sure that I was gay that they would yell at me from across the hallways. I got tossed into dumpsters by guys who are now my friends, took slushies before everyone else did."

"Slushies?" Blaine asked.

"It's a thing at my school, where you get an ice cold drink with too much food colouring thrown in your face- not nice. I swear they are kept a lot colder at McKinley than anywhere else. I've been keeping a spare change of clothes in my locker for a long time."

Blaine nodded, not as though he understood but to show that he was listening and trying to get it. "And who is everyone else?"

"I'm getting there- they're the Glee club. We ended up right at the bottom of the food chain. Glee club geek and the only out kid in the whole school? Shark bait. But it's not just the jocks, you see, because I somehow was landed with my own personal tormentor. This jock- Karofsky- he slams me into lockers almost daily, yells homophobic slurs whenever he passes me. Yesterday he pushed me down some stairs, thus the concussion."

"Wow."

"Yeah. One of the footballers in Glee found me passed out and he and Finn carried me to the nurse's office."

"Who is Finn, anyway? Is he your... boyfriend?" Blaine asked, almost timidly. Kurt laughed.

"Oh god, no. He's my step-brother. I did have a huge crush on him, but it passed when our parents started getting closer."

"So do you have a boyfriend, then? Someone who would get all jealous about you roleplaying one half of Nightarcy?"

Kurt shook his head. "I've never really dated anyone."

"Yeah, me neither. _Especially_ not Hadley. I had a talk to her about that."

"Did she really think you were dating?" Kurt asked.

"I don't think so. She can just be a bit dramatic and got caught up in the moment, I'd say." Blaine shrugged.

"So if you aren't dating, why do you come all the way to Lima to hang out with her?"

"I'm paid to," Blaine said. Kurt looked at him in confusion. "I _tutor_ her. She has dyscalculia and needs a bit of a push in the right direction, so I help her out with her math once a week. That's all."

"I did think that she was a bit young for you," Kurt said. Blaine laughed.

"And _female._ I thought you knew that I was gay, Kurt."

"You just... seem really straight? Like, too good to be true."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at Kurt. "And Nightbird wanting to be the first openly gay superhero didn't tip you off?"

"Luke told me that including me there are four gay roleplayers and four gay characters but that the overlap wasn't perfect." He could feel himself blushing a bit, but he tried not to talk himself down with his reasoning. Surely Blaine would understand where he was coming from.

"Ah, that's because we have Leo and Ethan as players, but only Hawkbeak and not Carlton as characters. The last is character is Nick's, Drew slash Dovetail. But as I was saying earlier, there's an undisclosed sexuality there."

"Oh, okay." A moment of silence hung between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

"Do you want to talk some more about the bullying? Have you told the school?" Blaine asked.

"We told them a while ago and they didn't do anything. Things with Karofsky have gotten worse recently, though. They might listen again."

"Have you told your parents yet? That you were pushed?" Kurt shook his head.

"I don't know how much worse it would get if I told people."

Blaine sighed and made sure to look intently at Kurt. "You can't just keep it quiet, Kurt, otherwise you won't ever get justice. That's what I did. I ran."

"You were bullied?"

Blaine took a deep breath again. "It was the Sadie Hawkins dance at my school- my first school, not Dalton- back in my freshman year."

"Aren't you a sophomore?"

"Right, my _first_ freshman year, I should have clarified. Anyway, there was this dance at my school, and I had just come out and it had all gone fine. I asked my friend, who was the only other gay kid I knew. Sometimes I think that given a bit more time we could have been something more, but we never quite made it that far. It was after the dance, and we were waiting outside the school for his dad to come and pick us up. Out of nowhere these three huge guys, must have been seniors, they just... attacked us. I was tiny back then, hadn't quite made a growth spurt yet, and I was on the ground in moments. But they just kept kicking me, and I was crying, and..." Blaine paused, and Kurt reached out to take his hand, pat his shoulder, anything. Blaine shook his head, as though he were coming back to reality. "I don't remember what happened next, but I was in hospital for a long time- so long that when I transferred to Dalton the dean suggested that I would benefit from repeating the year, and that's what I did. Dalton is my safe space, and I guess I get used to conforming there, but I needed that. I still do, a lot."

"Thank you, Blaine," Kurt whispered.

"Can I hug you, Kurt?" Blaine asked. Kurt nodded, and Blaine sat down next to Kurt on the bed and wrapped his arms around him, and Kurt did his best to reciprocate. For someone who had been almost a stranger just a few hours earlier, Kurt felt incredibly comfortable with Blaine, and their conversation had helped him so much.


	6. Regaining Balance

Burt could see that Kurt was getting stir crazy on Wednesday (as Kurt hadn't hesitated to tell him) and, though he made him stay home from school and skip Glee, he made Kurt a deal. So long as he could stay on his feet for long enough, he was allowed to go to the LARP session in the park.

Kurt was sure to take it slowly as he got dressed and did his hair, and then ventured downstairs to watch TV. He pretended that he was remembering every single detail of the show that he was watching, though maybe his concentration was still not so great. His balance was much better and Kurt was celebrating the little victories. He felt a lot better than he had, and his recovery in the last few days alone had been phenomenal.

Burt came home in time to drop Kurt at the park, not trusting him to drive in the slightest, and seeing that he was up and dressed and seemed fine Burt stuck to his side of the deal. Kurt was fairly quiet when they first got into the car, and stayed that way until he couldn't avoid the conversation with small hums of agreement.

"There's a boy who goes to these sessions, isn't there?" Burt asked, "Not just a boy, but a _boy_ , right? As in one you have a crush on, or whatever."

Kurt took a deep breath. "Yeah, there is."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Burt offered.

"Thanks, dad, but you don't have to do that. I know all the gay stuff makes you uncomfortable." In all honesty Kurt was as uncomfortable talking about it with his dad as he perceived Burt was, and he didn't feel any need to bring up the subject himself.

"Hey, none of that. You are you, and I love you, and I certainly am not uncomfortable. Do I want to know all of the details? Not really. But you can tell me about boys, you know, no different to if you were telling me about some cute chick or whatever."

"Is this because you want to meet Luke and Erica? You don't believe that there are responsible adults that I hang out with regularly?"

"Kurt, don't change the subject. What's his name?" Kurt sighed.

"He's called Blaine."

"Is Blaine on the table?" Kurt gave Burt a puzzled look as they pulled into a parking space by the park. "I mean, is he gay too? Does he like you back?"

"He's gay, yeah, and sometimes it seems like he could like me, but... I don't know, dad," Kurt said as he slid on Darcy's leather jacket. "Thanks for driving me."

"It's no problem, kiddo, there's no way I would let you get behind the wheel concussed and all. You can barely steer yourself, let alone a hunk of metal."

"Hey, don't talk about my Navigator that way." Burt chuckled appreciatively.

"If someone can give you a ride home that would be good, but you can call me and I'll come and get you, alright bud?"

"Yeah, I know." Kurt opened the door and stepped out of the car. Burt waved at him and waited until Kurt had greeted the group to drive away. He had arrived later than he normally would when he was coming from Glee, but that didn't seem to be a problem and there were more people there to be sociable with while he waited for more group members to arrive. They all seemed to have missed him and Darcy's absence was apparently notable, though Kurt would have thought otherwise.

As the session began, Kurt found his hand in Blaine's as almost second nature. He certainly didn't question who had taken whose hand or why it had happened, he just found himself effortlessly caught in the relationship between Darcy and Nightbird. "I hope you're not mad about me having to deal with Jet the other day," Blaine said. Kurt gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Not at all. I was a little upset, but it was mostly just confusion. This is making it up to me, so you don't have to feel bad."

"When I asked you to leave, I was just protecting you, you know. She's an elite villain, and I'm not ever going to let her hurt you."

"Yeah, I know," Kurt said. He paused for a moment before he asked, "Nightbird? Are we official?"

"What do you mean?" Blaine said.

"Can I tell people that you're my boyfriend yet? And not just 'the guy I'm seeing'?"

"Oh. I don't see why not. This _is_ the date that I'm supposed to fly you home on, and I don't just do that for anyone. But boyfriends would qualify. You aren't going to make me meet your parents now, right?" Kurt laughed.

"No, no," he said, shaking his head a bit, "don't you think it's a little bit funny how I only know you as a superhero? That's not usually how these stories work. Is there some normal person who is you in disguise who I've been rude to or anything?" Blaine grinned at him.

"Nope, just me as Nightbird. I mean, there was once a normal person there, but he's been gone for so long that I don't even think we're really the same person."

"I don't think I can really imagine you without the spandex, honestly."

"It does show off all my best features, doesn't it?" Blaine teased.

"Yeah, it really helps emphasise what a good person you are, or how much I like you, or how nice your voice is," Kurt said sarcastically. Blaine laughed.

"Those are traits rather than features, don't you think?" He paused for a moment before he added, "How much you like me isn't really a trait of mine."

"I beg to differ. It says a lot." They walked around for a bit before they walked past Jeff sitting on the ground with a bitter look on his face. "Braxton?" Kurt asked, "Are you okay?"

"Oh hey, Darcy. I'll be fine, I'm just sort of lonely," Jeff said. Kurt shot a look that was purely Darcy to Blaine, one of concern for the boy in front of them. Blaine, in total Nightbird, sighed, but sat down. Kurt was glad to see that they knew exactly what was happening with just communicative looks.

_We need to help him, sorry to ruin the date._

_No, Darcy, it's fine, there will be more dates._

"What's up?" Kurt asked, "and this is my uh, boyfriend," both of them smiled at the new usage of the word, "Nightbird."

"You know my friend, Drew?" Kurt nodded, "he got a boyfriend." Blaine smiled smugly, pure Nightbird radiating through him, that the characters were coming out, finally. It made Nightbird look like his dream of helping gay kids realise they're okay was working.

"And this upsets you because...?"

"Now I have no one to muck about with! Screw this, I'm going to go spray paint a wall or something." Jeff stood up and effectively ran away, leaving Kurt and Blaine sitting on the ground together.

"You look pleased with yourself," Kurt commented.

"I am pleased. Because I know Drew when he's busy being Dovetail- I didn't just tell you that- and now he has a boyfriend and no one cares, which I mean in the best way possible. I feel like I'm really doing something. I'm making a difference, and you have a hand in that, you know."

"Yeah, I know. It's like they can finally believe that you're gay because you have a boyfriend."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think you're exactly right." Blaine stood up and offered Kurt a hand. When they were both on their feet they started walking again, swinging their joined hands between them. It was what Kurt enjoyed most about the roleplaying, how effortlessly the pair could pretend to be in a relationship with one another. Some days it Kurt a lot of hope that they could slide into a relationship of their own as easily, though he still felt like he knew next to nothing about Blaine himself.

It didn't take long before Kurt was tackled to the ground from the side, taking Blaine down with him. When he tried to let go of Blaine's hand, he was still holding on so tightly that it wasn't possible. He looked up to find Erica on top of them both. The next few moments went by extremely quickly, but Kurt stumbled along behind Erica, clearly Darcy being kidnapped as promised, while Blaine called after them, immobilised by Marley sitting on top of his legs.

"Oh, Darcy," Erica said, "If only you had a hero now." She pushed him to the ground in a way that looked rough but didn't hurt Kurt in the slightest. He sat obediently and waited. "What, you don't want to defend yourself or your precious Nightbird?" she taunted.

"Arguing isn't going to get me anywhere. May as well save my energy," Kurt said, sighing emphatically. Erica sat down beside him, looking at him attentively.

"I was going to go and claim some victims, but you are absolutely _enthralling_."

"I thought I was just being hero bait for you."

"Not until I'm done cracking you, Mister Peterson. I just don't get it. I don't understand you, or why you want to do anything here in Dreamweaver. It sounds like you had bigger things on the horizon for you, before you moved back in with your parents, huh?"

"It's only temporary! My apartment lease is about to come through."

"I see. Well, I'll be back to finish this chat later." She got to her feet and sashayed off, leaving Kurt to sit by himself until Marley came by and pushed Leo to the ground beside him.

"I thought JetCat worked alone," Kurt said to Marley.

"Everyone needs to call in backup sometimes. Darcy, meet Hawkbeak. You should have plenty of time to get acquainted." She ran away again, leaving Kurt and Leo. Kurt shifted about on the grass uncomfortably.

Leo sighed. "I was on a date when they pounced on me."

"Me too," Kurt said, "my boyfriend was meant to fly me home on this date and everything."

"I'm not sure that my boyfriend is quite my boyfriend yet. It's just a new thing. Damn, I'm meant to be a hero myself, and yet they can contain me so easily. I'm meant to be helping to establish the villain institute, not being trapped like this myself."

Kurt took a moment to put two and two together. "You don't happen to be dating a kid called Drew, are you?"

"Uh, yeah, I am. You know him?" Leo seemed suitably surprised at the connection.

Kurt shook his head. "Not well. I know his friend, Braxton."

"Oh," Leo said, "I know him. He doesn't seem thrilled that we're dating."

"He's worried about getting lonely or something. And he's really acting out without Drew to keep him in line."

"Oh, really? That's not good."

"He told us he was going to go spray paint a wall."

"Damn, that's another thing I'll have to clean up," Leo grumbled.

"Just get Drew to let him know that you aren't going to take him entirely away from him. Get Drew to keep spending time with Braxton, too. Let them have some friend time," Kurt advised. He glanced over to find that Erica was sitting on the bench, clearly having tapped it. Kurt and Leo silently approached the bench to tap it, keeping in mind that Darcy and Hawkbeak were still trapped in JetCat's lair.

"I didn't tackle you too hard, right?" Erica asked Kurt, "especially with the having fallen down stairs and all that."

"No, I'm fine. I'll probably go to school tomorrow and everything. We have glee club sectionals coming up and I need to be there to help pick our set list."

"That's good; it's nice to hear that you're recovering."

"Can we please talk about how Hawkbeak and Dovetail are dating?" Ethan said, "Who knew about that before today? You know, aside from those two?"

"Didn't you? Carlton told Darcy that Drew was dating someone," Kurt said. He had seen the relationship between Leo and Ethan and examined the dynamic a lot. They had been together for so long that there didn't seem to be much that they didn't know about one another, so Ethan's question did surprise him. Ethan walked towards Leo and punched him playfully on the arm.

"I didn't know it was _Leo_."

"I meant to tell you! And then we got a little bit... distracted," Leo defended.

"It's okay. I don't mind, babe. It's not like you're cheating on me with Nick, of all people."

"Babe? Since when do you call anyone babe?" Leo teased, looking questioningly at his boyfriend.

"Since now?" Ethan shrugged. They continued to bicker playfully, and Kurt was soon diverting his attention to the other side of their group, where Jeff was still looking upset and Nick was avoiding eye contact with him. Jeff walked across to Blaine, who Kurt hadn't even noticed was standing beside him chatting with Marley, and promptly threw his arms around him. Blaine hugged his friend back, a little bit surprised with the contact but seemingly adjusting to it pretty quickly.

"It's just in character," Kurt heard Blaine saying quietly to Jeff. Nick looked confused, and Kurt walked over to him.

"You know what's going on?" Nick asked, "Jeff doesn't seem happy. I didn't think he would have a problem with my character dating anyone..."

"Maybe he's upset that you didn't tell him?" Kurt suggested.

"But I _did_ tell him."

"Oh," Kurt said, " _Oh_. I have survived enough glee club dramas to know what's going on." Nick looked at him in a way that Kurt knew was urging him to continue. "He's jealous."

"Jealous? Of what? That I thought to ask Leo to plot before he did?"

"You really _are_ that oblivious? He _likes_ you. He likes _you_. This has nothing to do with your characters, okay? Take them out of the equation entirely." Nick didn't even seem to try to hide his surprise. No one really anticipated what happened next, though, as Nick walked across the group to where Jeff was still hanging onto Blaine. Everyone in the group could sense the tension and watched eagerly to see what was going to happen next, as Nick tapped Jeff on the shoulder, clearing his throat. Jeff let go of Blaine to face Nick, and Nick leaned forward and kissed his best friend. Blaine took a step back away from the pair, both looking shocked, and headed around to Kurt.

"What did you say to him to get him to do that?" Blaine asked. Kurt shrugged. He hadn't said anything he didn't think Nick knew deep down already.

"I told him that Jeff liked him. It wasn't hard."

"I'm impressed. I told you they've been dancing around the subject for a long time. They have a very serious talk ahead of them."

"Yeah, but I think they just changed the couple to singles ratio in the group anyway."

"I called it," Blaine said proudly.

"That you did."

"Are you going to get back to school tomorrow? How's all the concussion and stuff going?" Blaine asked with a voice that suggested genuine concern to Kurt. He didn't even mind the sudden topic jump.

"I want to go back to school, there's glee stuff going on that I don't think I can miss much more of. I have zero chance of getting a solo if I'm not there to fight for it."

"I would offer to come into Lima and catch up with you tomorrow, but Thursdays are busy for me. I have to make room for LARPing sometime, right? So to do that, I have two music lessons _and_ a counselling appointment-" Blaine paused, as though he had realised what he had just said. He shook his head before continuing, offering Kurt a sheepish smile, which he took as a plea not to ask questions. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Yeah, I do, actually. Dad won't let me drive with the concussion and all."

"How's the concentration going?" Blaine asked with a smirk.

"Better, but that's why I'm not allowed to drive."

"That's what I thought. Come on, I'll take you." The car ride back to Kurt's house was spent chatting pleasantly, and they arrived to see that Burt was waiting in the driveway for Kurt to get home.

"He's going to want to meet you," Kurt grumbled. Blaine laughed lightly.

"I can meet parents. I'm a charming Dalton school boy."

"Who is currently dressed in a spandex superhero suit," Kurt reminded, "thank you for the ride, Blaine. Will you be at the social on Friday?"

"Yeah, I'll try to get there. See you then?" Kurt nodded, and stepped out of the car. Burt, as expected, raced around to the driver's side of the car and tapped on the window. Kurt couldn't even watch as he remembered what he had said to his dad earlier, and waved to Blaine before dashing inside the house, unable to bear the thought of what they were saying in his absence.

* * *

After dinner, Carole knocked on Kurt's slightly ajar bedroom door and poked her head into his room. "Do you have time to talk?" she asked. Kurt nodded, so she let herself in, returning the door to its initial position before she sat down on the bed beside Kurt.

"We need to have a boy talk," she said, "your dad told me that there's a boy from your group that you're interested in."

"Oh my god, can we not do this?" Kurt asked, putting his face into his hands for a moment, "did dad send you to grill me for information? What do you want to know?"

"Kurt, I don't need to gossip with you, but he told me that he hasn't ever talked to you about sex."

"Oh my god, can we not do this?" he repeated, his voice raising an octave.

"Look, I'm not accusing you of anything, but there are some things that you need to hear, and your dad isn't any more comfortable talking about it than you," Carole said firmly.

"I don't want to talk about... that."

"You've done sex ed classes at school, right?"

Kurt scoffed. "Bearing in mind that we live in Ohio? Hardly."

"Exactly why it needs to be said, Kurt."

"I'd prefer boy gossip to this, Carole."

Carole sighed slightly. "Can you at least promise me that you'll do a little bit of research yourself, if you don't want to hear it from me?" she asked, "and I know you aren't even dating anyone yet, but I just want you to know that the offer stands- if you're too embarrassed to buy protection for yourself, I'll do it for you."

"Oh my god, can we not do this?" Kurt said again. This time Carole just laughed at walked back towards Kurt's door.

"Any time, Kurt," she said, before finally leaving his bedroom. Kurt buried his face in his pillow, and wondered what it was that made his parents need to talk about boys with him so suddenly.


	7. Introductions To Be Made

**Kurt H.** _HELP ME. I'm at glee rehearsal and they're arguing about song choices and it's so boring that I don't even care anymore._

**Blaine A.** _I thought that was why you wanted to be at school today._

**Blaine A.** _Your dad would have let you stay home some more._

**Kurt H.** _It WAS. But not anymore. This is the worst._

"What do you think, Kurt?" Mister Schuester asked, snapping Kurt out of his daydream. He looked up from his phone.

"Hm? Oh, it's fine." Everyone glared at him in shock, because Kurt was not usually one to sit passively throughout these conversations. There needed to be someone who would debate against Rachel's suggestions to stop it from being a dictatorship and he was willing to argue with her about them.

"Are you okay?" Mercedes asked him once general conversation had diverted away from Kurt again, "who are you texting, anyway?" A whole week had gone by since Darcy had been kidnapped by JetCat, since Jeff and Nick had kissed, since Burt had met Blaine.

"I'm fine, honestly."

"And the second part of that question?" If Kurt was going to introduce the concept of the LARP to his best friend now seemed like as good a time as any, and answering with the full truth as to who he was texting would mean answering follow up questions about where he had met anyone _worth_ texting outside of glee.

"His name is Blaine," Kurt said quietly, near mumbling to try and avoid more attention being drawn to them. Mercedes face lit up.

"You're texting a boy? A friend boy? A _boyfriend_?"

"A friend, yes. From my roleplaying group?" Mercedes wrinkled up her nose.

"The Monday-Wednesday-Friday thing?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"You like him," Mercedes said confidently.

"I like him," Kurt admitted. He looked down at his phone again to see another message had come in.

**Blaine A.** _Doesn't Marley do glee club with you?_

**Kurt H.** _Nope, she's terrified of Rachel._

**Blaine A.** _Ah, I see._

**Blaine A.** _Rachel Berry, Rachel?_

**Kurt H.** _That's the one. You know her?_

**Blaine A.** _I've seen her at some auditions and stuff._

**Blaine A.** _Marley really is a lot like Glam, huh?_

**Blaine A.** _You know, with how scared she is of anyone vaguely more authoritative than her._

**Kurt H.** _Rachel does not deserve to be likened to the fabulousness that is JetCat._

**Blaine A.** _Ah. I see how it is._

"Kurt, can you put your phone down for two minutes and pay attention?" Rachel snapped. He suppressed a laugh at her timing. Kurt held up his hands in defencelessness before he picked the phone back up as Rachel carried on her next tangent, her attention sufficiently diverted from whether or not he was using his phone.

"I _have_ told you like, three times now to stop texting your boyfriend," Mercedes said, far gentler than Rachel.

**Kurt H.** _Mercedes keeps telling me to stop texting my boyfriend and pay attention._

**Blaine A.** _I thought you didn't have a boyfriend? ;)_

Kurt tried not to let the wink emoticon get the better of him, especially when he had suggested to the others that he would put his phone away soon. Was it wrong of him to think of it as being flirty?

**Kurt H.** _She means you, you know._

**Blaine A.** _I know, I was just teasing you. I'm only your boyfriend for two and a half hours or so at the most per week._

**Kurt H.** _That's true. That includes today :D_

**Blaine A.** _Yes! Except no Nightarcy date, since Darcy is still trapped in Jet's lair. :(_

Kurt thought that maybe he should interpret the emotion behind it better than seeing it as disappointment that they weren't roleplaying a date. Perhaps in good time they would be able to go on dates without the characters to hide behind. It already felt so natural to hold his hand or hug him, and he felt himself drifting to fantasies of other kinds of physical affection. I wasn't that he didn't love their playful, flirty banter, but he couldn't help thinking about Blaine's lips. A lot.

**Kurt H.** _When WILL Nightbird come to save him?_

**Blaine A.** _All will be revealed in time._

**Kurt H.** _You might get an angsty Darcy._

"Kurt, if you don't concentrate I'm going to confiscate your phone," Rachel threatened. Kurt looked up to find her standing right up close to him, looming over him. He didn't think it was possible for such a short girl to loom. She held out her hand expectantly, and Kurt slid his phone into his pocket. Rachel sighed but accepted the answer, returning to the whiteboard which had a list of song choices drafted up on it. "Okay, so to recap, Sam and Quinn will open with _The Time of My Life_ , then our best shot is an upbeat group number, for which we have these ideas-" Rachel circled a group of bullet points, "and then I'll sing a solo to close, which I will personally hand pick."

"Wait, _this_ is what I was missing?" Kurt exclaimed. They still had time to argue, after all.

* * *

By the end of glee they hadn't gotten much farther with their debating of the set list. They were settled on Sam and Quinn's duet (Kurt suspected that Rachel thought they needed enough advance warning to practice it), but they were no closer to deciding which songs their others would be. They had managed to talk Rachel out of a solo all to herself and into a song where they could rotate the solos, as so that she couldn't be the one to pick just for the sake of showcasing her own vocal range, though the exact song was still to be chosen.

With the school near silent as they left, the glee club made their way out to the parking lot to collect their cars. There weren't many cars still there, but that was how it always was. Everyone had usually gone home by the time their practice was over, except a few teachers or other clubs. They themselves only stayed for the sake of their club. "Kurt!" Marley said, walking quickly towards his small group of glee members. Kurt hadn't even noticed her waiting.

"Hey, Marley," Kurt greeted, "do you want to come to the session with me? We can drop by your place to grab your costume, if you want."

"Yeah, that would be great!" Rachel glared at Kurt and Marley.

"Kurt, what are you doing hanging around freshmen nobodies?" Rachel asked. Marley visibly cowered in on herself, trying desperately to avoid confrontation with Rachel. Kurt knew how threatened by her she already felt, and he wasn't going to let her feel any worse in Rachel's presence.

"Excuse me?" Kurt said, stopping walking and causing the group to stop around him. "Rachel, this is Marley, a friend from my Live Action Roleplaying group. Yes, my _friend_. Newsflash, Rachel, you're just a junior nobody. We're all nobodies. Glee club is the epitome of being nobody. Marley has been a better friend to me in the last three weeks than you have been in the last three years." Rachel just blinked at him, surprised at the outburst. Kurt felt oddly proud by how he handled the situation. He wasn't one to keep quiet when he disagreed, but he wasn't used to standing up for himself or anyone else.

Kurt kept walking and Marley and Mercedes followed, but the rest of the group seemed to stay startled and didn't move right away. He heard someone consoling Rachel, though he had no clue why, but Kurt couldn't care less. "Where did that come from, Kurt?" Mercedes asked, "You just sassed Miss Berry. _Hard_." He smiled proudly.

"We're friends?" Marley said finally.

"Of course we're friends, Marley. Why wouldn't we be?" Kurt said. He unlocked his car as they neared it. Marley didn't respond, but Kurt took that to be a positive sign of her acceptance. He wasn't surprised that she was being quieter, even more timid than usual, after a confrontation with Rachel.

"Could I come with you, Kurt?" Mercedes asked almost shyly, though she paled in comparison to Marley's introversion, "I want to meet your other friends. I'm just worried about you, boo, and I need to know what these other friends of yours have that we don't."

Kurt sighed. "Is this about Blaine?" Mercedes shrugged and Marley laughed quietly to herself knowing the full extent of Blaine and Kurt's relationship. Maybe the way he had called Marley his friend, even one of his better friends, had set Mercedes off. He thought that she probably getting defensive about their friendship.

"You know he used to never come to the socials before you started?" Marley said. Mercedes gave Marley a look to ask for further details, but Marley wasn't really used to interpreting Mercedes' gossip facial expressions.

"You can come with us, if you want. Just... try not to ask too many questions?" Kurt continued as he was ignoring the girls, she agreed and they all got into the car, stopping off by Marley's house briefly before heading to the park.

Kurt put on his leather jacket and Marley put her cape on as they walked towards the group, Mercedes in tow looking surprised by how they were adjusted to their routine of finishing off their costumes almost in sync. "Superheroes?" Mercedes asked in clarification, and Kurt nodded. "Which one is your boy?"

"The one in the black bodysuit," Kurt pointed out, "Behave, Jones." The group started to diffuse almost as soon as they got to it, so Kurt introduced Mercedes to Erica and Luke, who stayed sitting on the bench. Hadley scurried off as he approached them, clearly still embarrassed about what had happened with Blaine. Kurt seemed to be the only other person to know about what she had said about Blaine, and he didn't blame her for wanting to keep it that way.

"Shouldn't you be in a holding pen in a lair somewhere?" Erica teased Kurt.

"Shouldn't _you_ be kidnapping everyone else?" Kurt replied, "and shouldn't you be trying to save us?" he said in Luke's direction.

"It's not my fight, yet. White Wings is suspiciously absent, and I can coach Mercedes through the session, if you want?" Kurt looked hopefully at Mercedes, asking permission nonverbally to run off and join in. She rolled her eyes.

"Go on, Kurt." He was quick to leave and join the others who had been kidnapped sitting on the grass not too far away. He watched as Mercedes replaced Erica on the bench, and Luke began to point things out to her, chatting amiably. He figured they would be having a similar conversation to the one he had had with Erica the first week he had stumbled across them.

Kurt looked around the cluster. This had been the first time since Kurt had been part of the roleplay that everyone had been put together so closely and he could really examine the dynamics of the characters and the conversations that they had. Darcy and Hawkbeak were the first two to have been kidnapped by JetCat and Glameow, but in the last few sessions they had been joined by Unique, Yvonne, Braxton, Drew, and Constable Carlton. It was only as Erica settled herself down in front of Kurt that he realised how much time he had passed observing the group. She rested her chin on her hands with her arms propped on her knees, ignoring Hadley's whining, Nick and Leo's harmless in character flirting, Jeff's glaring in their direction and Unique's boredom at the whole set up.

"I need to crack your mystery, Darcy," Erica said, "what makes you so special that the Nightbird can't resist you?"

"Maybe you should ask him that," Kurt replied with a sigh, "you know, when he turns up to save us, finally."

"You're more than hero bait to me, my dearest Darcy. I can't just _let_ him turn up until you've finished working with me. Tell me the whole story. How did you end up in Dreamweaver?" Kurt felt like he had repeated Darcy's back story hundreds of times since he had been there.

"I finished studying overseas; this is where my family is. Also, the newspaper in town is in desperate need of a new editor, and I can do that once I work my way up the ranks, which I'm sure will happen since I have so much insider knowledge about the heroic and villainous happenings in the town. What makes me so important to you? What have I got that makes me so much more special than any of these others?"

"Besides your insider knowledge, as you say? That's what I'm trying to figure out, sweetie. Whatever you have is what he has. There is some advantage he has from picking you up, and I just can't work out what that is."

"I'm not a tactic," Kurt said defensively.

"Of course not. I guess we'll just have to ask him after all, huh?" Erica smiled wickedly and turned around. "Glameow? Bring him in." Marley led Blaine into the middle of the group, his hands held firmly behind his back as he struggled against her grip. He looked at Kurt with the most dejected facial expression Kurt had ever seen on him.

"Darcy..." Blaine breathed out. Kurt stood up and tried to approach him, but Erica was quick to grab him before they were in touching distance of one another. Kurt tried to reach for Blaine, thinking about how long Darcy and Nightbird had been separated, all the missing and longing and new love, but was quickly grabbed again by Erica.

"Glameow, why don't we leave these boys to their reunion? Let him go," Erica said, releasing Kurt herself, "do have fun with our new friends too, Glam." She took off, running towards the bench, leaving the new arrivals with the group. Marley realised what had just happened to her character and sat down, leaving Kurt and Blaine to it. Blaine closed the gap, wrapping his arms around Kurt. For a moment he felt relieved, and realised that was all Darcy, then came the familiar fluttery feeling that _Kurt_ was hugging _Blaine._

"I'm so glad you're okay," Blaine said, "you are okay, right? She didn't hurt you?" Kurt shook his head.

"No, I'm good. Better now that you're here, boyfriend." He let the word hang for a moment, and he watched as Blaine smiled fondly at the memory of Nightbird and Darcy's last date before the kidnapping and they had discussed the terminology.

"Even though I can't save you?" Blaine said, biting his lip as he waited for Kurt's response.

"I don't always need saving."

"Saving's kind of my thing, though." Kurt shook his head.

"Not today, it isn't. Come and sit with me. Tell me about what's going on with you." They sat down on the grass and Blaine wrapped one of his arms around Kurt, who let his head rest on Blaine's shoulder. The simple closeness made Kurt feel simultaneously relaxed and on edge, calm and excited, comfortable and fidgety. He wondered for a moment how the others perceived their relationship. The kind of contact they had on days like today was beyond friendship, but maybe that was only their characters. Kurt didn't think he was that convincing of an actor.

"Mostly I've been planning how to save this group, but clearly it didn't work," Blaine explained, "I'd like to say that you weren't my biggest priority because I care about everyone, but you're especially important to me."

"If it had been any of the other Defenders who had come in here I wouldn't have been as happy to see them."

"None of the others have my good looks and wit." Kurt looked around the group to find that most of them had started to fade away from the crowd and were clustered by the bench. He didn't want to leave the comfort of sitting so close to Blaine, but they needed to rejoin the others. They seemed to realise that everyone was looking at them at about the same time and both stood up, making their way over to the gathering.

Mercedes was quick to reattach herself to Kurt's side, looping her arm through his. Erica ran through a couple of quick notices, and soon everyone was preparing to leave. "Can you introduce me to him?" Mercedes asked Kurt quietly. He sighed lightly but nodded, leading her across the group to Blaine. He knew she would have a lot of questions, since the two had been effectively cuddling for so long.

"Hey, Kurt," Blaine said smiling brightly at the pair, "I can't stay, I have a piano lesson to go to."

"Oh, that's okay," Kurt replied, "good work today."

"You too. Darcy really gets all the emotions, huh?"

"Only since a certain nocturnal avenger has swooped in." Blaine laughed and checked his phone.

"I really need to go now, I'm so sorry." Kurt said goodbye and then Blaine was gone, before he had even mentioned Mercedes. She looked at him questioningly as Erica joined them.

"Did you meet Blaine?" Erica asked Mercedes. She shook his head.

"Kurt didn't introduce me."

"Goddamn, Kurt," Erica punched his shoulder without enough force to do any damage, "it would have taken you two seconds to stop flirting with him." She turned back to Mercedes as Kurt rubbed his arm absentmindedly. "Do you understand what's happening around here?"

"I think I understood, but it's not really my thing," Mercedes concluded, "I'm not much of an actress."

"That's alright," Erica said, "you're welcome to keep watching if you want."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass." Kurt was internally very grateful for Mercedes' decision and tried not to let it show. It wasn't that he didn't love Mercedes; he just wanted to keep his LARP and Glee lives separate. He got along with the two groups in different ways for very different reasons, and though he didn't doubt that the others would like his LARP friends too, he wanted to keep them as his friends.

Kurt dropped Mercedes off on his way home. He was stopped on his way into the house by his phone chiming in his pocket. He smiled when he saw the sender of the message.

**Blaine A.** _Sorry for running off today. I don't think I could be totally charming for meeting your friend right now. I do want to meet your glee club friends though :)_

**Kurt H.** _It's okay, she was just dying to meet you after all the texts earlier today._

**Blaine A.** _So I'm famous among your friends? B)_

**Kurt H.** _I talk about you just a little bit._

After sending the message Kurt wasn't sure how it was going to be taken by Blaine. He could think it was cute or funny or creepy, and Kurt just hoped that at worst he would take it as flirty.

**Blaine A.** _B)_

That wasn't quite the reaction that Kurt expected.

**Kurt H.** _Having fun there?_

**Blaine A.** _B)_

**Kurt H.** _:)_

**Blaine A.** _My smiley is infinitely cooler than yours._

**Kurt H.** _Makes up for all the other ways I'm cooler than you._

**Blaine A.** _You are much cooler than me, that's true._

**Kurt H.** _Thanks._

**Blaine A.** _B)_

**Kurt H.** _Really?_

**Blaine A.** _Don't pretend you don't love it B)_

Kurt sighed. There was something ridiculously endearing about their exchange, and it gave him feelings that he couldn't really describe. Every word that Blaine said had Kurt falling a tiny bit further, and even the smiley faces didn't help. He was pretty sure that Blaine was aware of his crush on him, and all Kurt could do was hope that the feeling was at least partially mutual. If only Blaine were a little easier to read.


	8. Seriously Competitive

Two weeks later the set list for Sectionals had been juggled several times and the choreography had been altered dramatically, but they were finally sitting in an auditorium as they waited for the competition to begin. They were third in the order, which meant they had time to get comfortable in their seats. Kurt calmed his nerves and found he was getting more and more excited for the competition, for the rush that always came with performing for him. The auditorium wasn't huge, but any audience was a big enough one for Kurt.

"Run me through our competition again?" Kurt asked Rachel, leaning forward to talk to her in the row in front of him.

"The Hipsters are a group of elderly people working for their GEDs, so they hardly count. The Warblers are a bit trickier, they're that preppy school in Westerville's a cappella choir," Rachel said.

"Dalton?"

"Yeah, why?" Kurt shrugged.

"I know some guys who go there." From the roleplay he knew four guys who attended Dalton- Blaine, Jeff, Nick and Ethan. He hadn't ever talked about glee clubs with any of them- at least not _their_ glee clubs. He wondered if they would be around for him to say hi to later, if they had come to support the team or whatever. They could have had Warbler friends.

The Hipsters performed first, and Kurt thought that their whole concept was adorable. He wasn't worried about being beaten by them, but he enjoyed their performance.

The Dalton Academy Warblers performed next, and Kurt gripped the arms of his chair as their set started and none other than Blaine Anderson, the boy that he had the biggest crush on, was their lead soloist. If Blaine hadn't been perfect enough already, now he could sing too. He had a demanding stage presence, and Kurt was absolutely captivated by their performance of _Hey Soul Sister_. He should have known that with all the music lessons Blaine took he would be soloist material.

At the end of the pop song, the pace changed dramatically as they began their next. This song was much slower and seemed to be a lot deeper than the last, even before Blaine began to sing. His eyes locked on Kurt's, and that was when Kurt knew that this was going to have some direct impact on him. Of course Blaine had done the research when Kurt mentioned his glee club, and yet Kurt hadn't ever even asked about whether or not he was in one himself. Blaine barely broke eye contact for a second throughout the song, always coming back to Kurt.

" _Your heart is broken, to your surprise, you're sick of crying for blue eyes,"_ Blaine began, and Rachel turned around to converse with Kurt. He leaned forward again to hear what she said.

"It's a MIKA song," she explained, "he seems like more of a _Lollipop_ guy to me." Kurt nodded, because she was completely right. If not _Lollipop_ then he would have expected _Grace Kelly_ , not the lesser known hit that _Blue Eyes_ was.

" _So tired of living misunderstood, think you're a woman, I think you should;"_ Kurt caught a moment of eye contact between Jeff and Nick- they had never mentioned the show choir either- and it seemed like Nick was smirking about something. Kurt guessed it was the lyrics, since between the three of his Warbler friends none of them were currently interested in women. _"Come sorrow is so peculiar, comes in a day then it'll never leave you. You take a pill, wonder if it will fix you, then wonder why sorrow has never left you."_ Blaine looked at Kurt again as he began the chorus. _"I'm talking 'bout blue eyes, blue eyes, what's the matter, matter? Blue eyes, blue eyes, what's the matter, matter? So blind, so blind, what's the matter, matter? Blue eyes, blue eyes, what's the matter with you?"_

Mercedes turned to Kurt and started tapping his arm repeatedly in excitement. She whispered, "You have blue eyes!" and he just nodded. Blaine had never made any comment about his eyes at all, but he wondered if maybe that was about to change. He was well aware that Blaine was probably singing it for him, and he was truly touched. The Warblers didn't seem like an easily persuaded group, even for someone with charisma like Blaine.

He clapped at the end of the number as the New Directions were moved from the auditorium to warm up back stage during the Warblers' last song. He turned around to look back at the stage as he walked with the group out, asking Blaine with his eyes. Blaine gave the slightest nod, and that was enough for him to know that it was meant for him. They had been good with nonverbal communication since the moment they had met, almost.

The New Directions' set went well, with Santana singing _Valerie_ in such a way that Kurt didn't even feel bad about not being given a solo himself. It was nice for the numbers to go to people who weren't Rachel and Finn. He only managed to catch Blaine's eye once in the whole performance, but he could feel that his trio of Warblers were watching him and not the focal dancing or soloist.

After the competition ended and the results were announced- that both The Warblers and the New Directions would be going to Regionals- Mister Schuester gave them freedom for the half hour until the buses were due to take them home. Once everyone had been cleared out of the auditorium and into the large foyer spaces Kurt searched the crowd of blazers for his friends without abandoning his glee friends, who stood nearby.

"Looking for someone?" a caramel voice said from behind him. He turned around to see Blaine grinning at him.

"You, actually! Hey!" Kurt replied. Blaine held out his arms and Kurt stepped into his hug gladly. He wasn't sure when hugging as a greeting had become something that they did, but he wasn't complaining.

"You were great," Blaine said, "really stole the New Directions' set. You guys deserved the win, and Rachel Berry didn't even sing."

"Yeah, that was a real thing that happened. I didn't think the day would ever come," Blaine laughed, "but really, _I_ was great? _You_ were the one with the lead soloist position, mister 'I never talk about my glee club to my friends even though they always bitch about theirs to me'."

"I thought that you might appreciate my surprisingly well planned song choice more if you weren't expecting me to sing, let alone for me to be here."

"Well it worked. I was surprised, to say the least."

"You worked out that _you_ are Blue Eyes, right?" Blaine confirmed. Kurt nodded, "Your eyes are beautiful, by the way. You know they change from day to day? Sometimes they're greener or greyer."

"They've been part of my body for my whole life," Kurt teased, "but yes, I've been told. Thank you for noticing."

"You're welcome. They're nice to look at." _You're nice to look at_ , Kurt thought and was immediately proud for managing to contain it. Blaine's eyes were gorgeous too, just like the rest of him, but it didn't seem like the right time to say it.

"They're nice to look with," Kurt quipped, instead of his earlier thought. Blaine laughed a proper, bright eyed laugh, as Kurt's glee friends noticed that he was talking to someone and seemed to make a beeline for them.

"Kurt, who is your friend?" Rachel said, turning on her flirty voice. Kurt had come to know it well in the years he had known her. Mercedes whispered something to Tina behind her, undoubtedly about Blaine.

"Rachel, this is Blaine. Blaine, this is Rachel, Mercedes and Tina. You nearly met Mercedes the other week," Kurt introduced.

"I do remember these things, Kurt," Blaine said, "it's nice to meet you all."

"The Warblers were so good!" Rachel gushed, "I'm so glad that we both got through to the next round, because you definitely deserved it. Are you the usual soloist?"

"Yeah, I mean, I don't want to have all the solos, but the council seem to think it's a good idea. And I mean, well, I am only a sophomore. _Blue Eyes_ was my suggestion, though. It isn't totally in Warbler fashion, but I really like the way it turned out." Blaine looked as Kurt as he mentioned the song, though he was talking to Rachel.

"Oh, it was fantastic!"

"Thanks."

"So, Blaine Warbler, do you have a girlfriend?" Kurt laughed as quietly as he could manage, and Blaine caught his eye to smile. No one was really sure exactly where Rachel was sitting in the on again/off again with Finn on that particular day after all the drama, but even if they were still a couple Rachel was fairly flirtatious.

"No, I don't," Blaine replied.

"He's not looking for a girlfriend, Rachel," Kurt said.

"But if he happened to _find_ one...?" she said, all but batting her eyelashes at Blaine.

"Yeah, I'm gay, so..." Blaine said as Rachel's jaw visibly dropped, "and I've only recently managed to stop a thirteen year old from thinking she was my girlfriend, so I'm not exactly in the market for one." The three girls looked puzzled but Kurt laughed, and when Blaine caught his eye again the caramel eyes sparkled. They had gone through the Hadley experience together, really. Kurt couldn't remember ever seeing Blaine so honestly content.

Soon after Rachel pulled Mercedes and Tina away from Blaine, clearly trying to cover her tracks and appear less embarrassed than she was. Blaine watched her as she left before turning to Kurt and asking, "That's why Marley's too scared to join your glee club?"

"Yeah, pretty much. She can be very threatening when she wants to be. A couple of weeks ago she got all snarky at me for hanging out with Marley because she was a quiet freshman. She hasn't quite grasped that we're at the bottom of the food chain already," Kurt explained.

"But Marley really sings well. You would be lucky to have her, and from the friends of yours that I've met she would be lucky to have you."

"Glee used to be a safe space for me, but I'm not so sure anymore. The roleplay just has... something _more_. But it means I have friends to sit with at lunch and people to carry me into the nurse's office after an incident with some stairs."

"You and Marley should sing together. You know, as underappreciated talent and all that," Blaine suggested. Kurt didn't completely hate the idea. He loved Marley and she was easily one of his best friends in recent times. He hadn't even ever heard her sing and he thought that he could enjoy a duet or two with her.

"Since when have you ever heard me sing?" Kurt questioned.

"Well, I haven't, but I just know that you're good. Judging by the talent of your fellow glee members, you must have a fairly high standard and therefore you're a good singer yourself. So, the real question is why you didn't get a solo in this competition?"

"I don't know, to be honest. Mister Schuester- he's the teacher in charge of glee- specifically decided not to give the leads to Finn and Rachel and use the underused talent in the club, but here I am, still without a solo."

"The others did well, though, and you came out with a win, right? That gives you another competition to have a solo at."

"Regionals," Kurt nodded, "Though the prize of that is Nationals, so the solos will be handed back to Finn and Rachel again because we have to get there before we're going to win it." He rolled his eyes, and Blaine nodded sympathetically.

"I'd like to point out here that I don't actually _want_ all the solos. I just get given two out of three at every competition because that's what the council wants. I don't really think it's a fair system, since Nick and Jeff had to fight to get their little solos in for the last number, and they did really well with their auditions and everything. But it's usually best not to question the council with these things."

"So you don't actually want the solos?" Kurt clarified, and Blaine nodded, "that's interesting."

"Oh! Except for _Blue Eyes_ , that took a lot of effort since it's not exactly in the usual Warbler style. I had to be very persuasive for them to let me have the song in there. I just... if Nick and Jeff had been given that over me, I don't think it would have made quite the same point that I wanted it to."

"And what point was that, exactly?" Kurt asked hesitantly. He knew that the song had been aimed at him, even more so since Blaine had said it himself. But that Blaine had a point to be made... well, that just altered everything a little bit. He hoped that the point was about the huge crush that Blaine had on him too, but he knew that it would be too good to be true.

"That I know you aren't having a great time at school, that I want you to know that you can talk to me whenever about anything, that we _all_ will do our best to keep you from getting to the point that you'll be taking pills for your sorrow," Blaine shrugged, "that all sounded much better in my head. But really, it would have been embarrassing if I got Jeff and Nick to sing to you for me." The pair chose that moment to come over to them, both opening their arms to hug Kurt by way of greeting like Blaine had.

"Hey Kurt!" Jeff said, "You did really well. I guess we'll be seeing you at Regionals, huh?"

"It's good to see you. Your friends seem nice," Nick added, even though he hadn't actually met any of them. "Anyway, we've gotta go, Blainers."

"Yeah, that's why we came over, woops. Though it is cool to see you, Kurtsies."

"I look forward to the day we compete against each other again, Kurt. Just, you know, by the way," Blaine said, "but it looks like I've got to go now."

"It would be kind of nice to compete _with_ each other sometime, though," Kurt said, sighing softly. Perhaps he and Blaine were going to be destined to a life of Romeo and Juliet forbidden inter-school love and rivalry. It had hardly worked out for Rachel and Jesse St. James, and he didn't want their relationship to end the same way.

That was, if they had a relationship in the first place. He was getting awfully ahead of himself.

"You know, I think I can arrange that," Blaine said. Kurt didn't have the time to wonder what he could possibly mean as they said their last round of goodbyes and see-you-on-Mondays, and Kurt finally rejoined his own group, ready to answer all their questions about how exactly it was that Kurt knew not one but three cute prep school boys from the Warblers.

* * *

The next Friday Kurt arrived at Luke and Erica's house to find that their living room had had all the furniture pushed away to leave a very open middle of the room, facing towards the TV. "Kurt!" Erica greeted, "welcome to the Dreamweaver semi-annual sing off." Kurt took a seat and looked at the Playstation and microphones set up in front of the muted TV as they waited for everyone to arrive. He wondered how much Blaine had to do with the sing-off, since they had talked about competing a week ago.

When Marley walked in and saw the room's positioning she lit up. "It's sing off week!" she said, sitting down next to Kurt. "Okay Erica, what's the twist this time?"

"We aren't just playing SingStar?" Kurt asked suspiciously. Knowing the group he wouldn't be surprised if they had managed to find a way to make a simple karaoke game dangerous.

"You'll see. We need to wait on a couple more people first," Erica explained. Soon everyone was there- literally every member of the roleplay had turned up, an event that didn't happen often- and Kurt realised that these twice yearly sing offs were a big deal in the group. Erica stood up by the TV to get the attention of the group, all of whom seemed eager to hear what the twist was.

Just as the group went quiet, Blaine called, "I call dibs on Kurt!" leaving Kurt blushing ever so slightly with flattery and excitement, Erica looking vaguely annoyed, and the rest of the group waiting in confusion for Erica to announce the twist. She sighed heavily.

"We're doing duets this time. Pick a partner and then we'll put you on the draw." She sat down by Luke, who had wheeled in a whiteboard drawn up in a tournament layout that didn't make a lot of sense, waiting for the pairs to approach them so they could be added to the chart. After all the teams had been established and portmanteaus given to each- Luke and Erica (Lurica), Marley and Unique (Marlique), Jeff and Nick (Niff), Kurt and Blaine (Klaine), Leo and Ethan (Lethan) and Hadley and Blake, her new boyfriend (Hadlake)- they all settled down in the semi circle again as Erica explained the competition. Kurt wasn't exactly sure why they were all listening so intently, other than that it was important to the group. He didn't quite grasp why either.

"Round one is qualifiers. Each team gets to choose one song and will have one song randomised. The two teams with the lowest combined score will be eliminated. Questions?"

"Who's going first?" Marley asked brightly. For the sake of fairness and time spent choosing, songs for the qualifier had been restricted to the original SingStar disk. Kurt wasn't sure how long these competitions had been running for or how long it had taken Erica and Luke to establish all of these little rules, but he admired the smoothness with which it seemed to run. Marley and Unique jumped up first, clearly with a good knowledge of what was on the game as they immediately settled into their duet of Blondie's _Heart of Glass._

Blaine grabbed the game case and brought it over to Kurt so that they could choose a song together. "We can sing pretty much whatever you like, but for the sake of the competition if there's a song that I'm not confident enough with the tune of I'm going to veto it. I'm not so worried about whether or not I know the words, because the game doesn't count anything for that, but I need to have a tune in my mind to match," Blaine said. Kurt read the list over a few times, slowly narrowing down their choices.

"How would you feel about Madonna?"

"I can do _Like a Virgin_." They ended up singing next, and, if Kurt didn't say so himself, did well on the number. Neither of them had compromised vocal quality for the sake of hitting any of the notes, and they still came out with a score over 8000.

Hadley and Blake went next, singing _YMCA_ , which Hadley was clearly not happy with and both of them looked equally awkward as they sang. The group danced around them, earning high quality bitch glares from Hadley, the kind of small detail to the girl that Kurt would never have expected. She was usually so sweet and quiet, but she definitely had a bitchy side to her.

Kurt couldn't help but notice how similar Blake was physically to Blaine. Aside from the scarily similar names, Blake was barely taller than Hadley was, and had dark curls like Blaine's, though they weren't cased in the gel that Blaine was so fond of using. Unlike Blaine though, Blake was obviously not comfortable standing up in front of a lot of people, let alone singing.

Nick and Jeff sang _Crashed the Wedding,_ neither of them looking at the screen in favour of dancing around and facing the group members, and they still pulled through with a score to rival Blaine and Kurt's. Kurt wondered if they had both gone through a boy band phase right when Busted was the height of Britpop.

Leo and Ethan chose to sing _Don't Stop Movin'_ , both very much having fun with song and not taking themselves or the competition too seriously. Any inhibitions that Ethan had clearly left as soon as he took the microphone, his other forms of charisma easily slipping into place instead.

Erica and Luke went last, singing _One Love_ , a song that they clearly both knew well. They didn't even have any time to confer before they selected the song, both just automatically feeling comfortable with it. Kurt figured it was because they played the game so often.

For the round of randomisation each team was made to sing whichever song Erica rolled when she pressed the random select button. Marley and Unique ended up with _Round Round_ by the Sugababes and were both clearly confident in the song and sold it. Kurt and Blaine sang _Livin' La Vida Loca_ , which actually earned them a round of applause from the group.

"Why the enthusiasm?" Kurt asked as he caught his breath at the end of the song, though he had truly gotten into the number and even gave the group a signature Hummel shimmy.

"Because you were two gay men selling the straight sex appeal just as well as Ricky Martin the gay god did," Leo said.

"Preach to that, honey," Unique said.

Hadley and Blake sang _Complicated,_ a song that Hadley clearly knew very well (even if she didn't quite have the talent to sell it), and Blake looked just as uncomfortable as he had before, even on a song that he was clearly even less confident with. Kurt hadn't picked Hadley as the Avril Lavigne type but was still not even slightly surprised by her commitment to the song.

Nick and Jeff landed on _I Believe in a Thing Called Love_ , which they both clearly enjoyed as they bounced around and struggled to hit the high notes and somehow still managed to pull through on spectacularly. When they were asked why they knew the song so well, Jeff answered with, "It's a perfect car song."

Leo and Ethan sang _Groove is in the Heart_ by Deee-Lite, which clearly neither had heard before they were made to sing it, and Luke and Erica sang Atomic Kitten's _Eternal Flame_ , which resulted in a lot of exaggerated girly gestures from Luke as he played it up.

The times that Kurt had played the game with his glee friends it had always turned into more of a battle for the microphones than anything else, so he was surprised to find that he was enjoying seeing each of the other teams perform as much as he enjoyed performing himself.

Unsurprisingly, as if only based on the scores of the second round, Blake and Hadley and Leo and Ethan were knocked out. Both teams seemed to mysteriously vanish from the room after that had been announced, and no one even bothered to ask where they had gone for they all already knew.

For the next round, the teams got to select the song that they wanted to sing, but it had to be taken from a disk that they chose randomly from a bag. Kurt was instructed to roll a die that he had been passed and when he asked why he was doing it Luke explained that it was to establish the draw order. He rolled a two, and immediately looked to Blaine apologetically. Blaine didn't seem to mind too much. Luke rolled a four, Marley rolled a one and Jeff rolled a five, placing Kurt and Blaine in third place in the draw order.

Jeff drew first, taking SingStar Party, followed by Erica taking SingStar Pop, Blaine drawing SingStar 80's and Unique drawing SingStar Rocks. Everyone other than Marley and Unique (who were immediately unhappy) seemed content with their draws.

Jeff and Nick chose _Don't Go Breaking My Heart_ after arguing over whether they should sing that or _I Got You Babe_.

"You could continue on your Busted streak and sing _Year 3000_ ," Blaine had suggested.

"But those are _the_ two classic duets," Nick had said, with eager nods from Jeff. Kurt wondered if their passion for the songs would kill their shot at making it through to the next round, before reminding himself that he shouldn't care whether another team made it or not. Jeff sang Kiki Dee and Nick sang Elton John, and everyone was definitely pleasantly surprised with how well they did, not just on the score but also on their chemistry as they sang.

Erica and Luke sang _Stacy's Mom_ , with Erica on the lead and Luke managing to hit the lower notes of the backup. Aside from a discussion about how Rachel Hunter wasn't really _that_ attractive, their song passed without too much fuss.

Blaine nearly had an existential crisis when he and Kurt mulled over their options on 80's songs. He had an excessively long list of songs from the game that he was more than happy singing, which was why they settled on _Karma Chameleon_ in compromise. They came out with a score over 9000, giving them a SingStar, much to upset of their friends around them.

"You guys picked the easiest song on the easiest of any of the games!" Nick complained.

"They did sound great," Erica reasoned.

"And they got a lucky game choice. That's not their fault," Luke said. The song had sounded great with both of their voices, and Kurt was glad he had managed to keep focussed while Blaine was singing. He kept shooting Kurt these adorable little half smiles.

Marley and Unique went last, and neither was happy with their song possibilities. They ended up on _4ever,_ the unexplained song by the Veronicas that barely suited the rest of the songs available. Though the scores had been incredibly close, Kurt and Blaine and Jeff and Nick were the two pairs with the highest scores from the round, which put them through to the final round.

"We've lost half our audience," Erica said. The two teams left in the game sat on one side of the circle with Luke, Erica, Marley and Unique sitting on the other side. "I would go looking for the others but I'm worried about what I might walk in on. Audience of six it is."

For the final round, the audience got to select the song that they wanted the pair to sing, though the team got to choose which of the games they wanted their selection to be taken from, in the sake of fairness. They gave Nick and Jeff _Uptown Girl_ , which both were content with, and Kurt and Blaine ended up with _Kids_ , which Kurt was willing to sing on the condition that he got to be Kylie Minogue.

The scores were insanely close, but somehow, Kurt and Blaine came out just on top. They were only a few points away from one another, since no one had made any ridiculous slips and they were playing on easy mode after all, but it was still a surprise. Nick and Jeff were singing from 80's, which they themselves had said was the easiest of the games on which to do well.

Blaine hugged Kurt when they saw that they had beaten the score, and though Nick and Jeff were initially disappointed- the group took the competition _very_ seriously- they had to admit that it was a well deserved win.

Kurt just couldn't get over how good his voice had sounded next to Blaine's, how they had managed to attain such high scores even as a pair. The hugs that followed in Blaine's celebratory silliness were a bonus that Kurt didn't dream of complaining about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: a looooooooootttt of songs got mentioned in this chapter, but really the only important one is Blue Eyes by MIKA. All the SingStar songs were lifted semi-randomly right from my own game collection, and I apologise if the whole international release thing means that I've put a few too many Australianish songs in the game that aren't on other versions.


	9. Rude Intrusions

In the last few sessions since Nightbird had joined all the other captive characters in JetCat's lair, White Wings had finally come to liberate everyone, Dovetail and Hawkbeak had made their relationship public knowledge, and Nightbird had finally flown Darcy home at the end of a date.

Kurt was sitting with Unique and Hadley as their characters grilled Darcy about his relationship with Nightbird. "Speaking of the boyfriend..." Unique said, tilting her head slightly forward to gesture behind Kurt. Before he could even turn around, Blaine's arms closed around him.

"Hey babe," Blaine said, "ready to go?" Kurt nodded.

"Of course. Bye, ladies!" Kurt said as he stood up, falling into a rhythm with Blaine as they walked away. "I've never noticed how much walking we do on these dates," Kurt told him, letting Blaine take his hand.

"I like walking with you. It means we don't have to do anything but talk," Blaine said, "and talking means that I get to know everything about you. And there's a lot more to you than you let on at first Darcy, I know it." Kurt suppressed a laugh. He was finding more out about Darcy all the time too. "Are you cold?"

"Well, I'm not warm." Honestly Kurt felt bad for those of them who were in hero costumes, since they didn't really allow for much warmth. They couldn't easily put on more layers, either. Kurt had layered up and still wasn't feeling dressed for the slowly worsening weather. Blaine wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close to his side.

"Better?" Kurt smiled at him.

"Always."

"We'll have to cuddle later," Blaine said. They walked in silence for a moment before he asked, "Would it annoy you if there was some kind of disaster like, right now, which meant I had to go off with White Wings and save the day?"

"I'd be annoyed, yeah. But I totally understand it. You just have to expect to deal with it when your boyfriend is a superhero." As if on cue, Nick jogged over to them, stopping them in their tracks.

"Nightbird, you've gotta come. It's Braxton, he... just come and see for yourself, okay?" Blaine looked at Kurt apologetically.

"I have to go," he said, "rain check on that cuddling?" Kurt nodded, and Blaine pecked him on the cheek quickly as if it was second nature. Kurt watched them run away, and as Leo approached him he was too phased out by the lingering feeling of Blaine's lips on his cheek to respond right away.

"...sucks, huh?" Leo said. Kurt blinked at him, trying to remember what had come first in that sentence.

"What?" Leo laughed.

"You're so in love with him." Kurt wanted to be flattered by the compliment to his acting skills, but he was fairly certain that everyone in the group knew that he had a crush on Blaine, even without their characters dating.

"It's a bit soon to call it love," Kurt said, trying to pull it back to the scene.

"If you love him, then why wait?"

"Because he might not love me back."

"Darcy, let me get real with you here for a moment," Leo said, and Kurt waited patiently for his elaboration, "Nightbird has never dated anyone before you. He's had offers. A lot of offers. And every single time he's turned them down because of his job. He hasn't wanted to go through any hassle of dating civilians because they can't handle it when he has to bail on them. For some reason though, he's choosing to deal with that for you. Whether or not it's too early to call it love, there's something more than mutual attraction there."

Kurt froze, and it was in no way related to what Leo had been saying to him.

"Um, Darcy?" Leo said gently, prodding Kurt in the arm softly. He shifted himself to follow Kurt's line of sight, and began to look between the figure walking towards them and Kurt's expression. Kurt knew he wasn't being even slightly subtle in his reaction, completely breaking character. "Oh, shit," Leo said, "I'll be right back, K-" he stopped before he broke character any further and ran towards the bench tapping it twice even though the session wasn't due to end for quite a lot longer, and then tried to alert the others of what was going on.

Kurt couldn't move. Karofsky had come into the park, infiltrating one of his few safe spaces left. Leo had left him alone, and he couldn't leave where he was without making it easier for Karofsky to intercept him. Why were all of his friends _behind_ his bully?

"Hey, fairy," Karofsky said by way of greeting, "who was that guy you were with, your little bum buddy? Is he a faggot too, huh? It's a nice costume he has, really shows off the gay," he continued. Kurt wasn't even sure he knew what he was saying, just pouring out a torrent of insults as they came to him.

"Go away, Karofsky," Kurt said calmly. He knew he was well and truly out of character, but he doubted the others minded at that moment. "There aren't any lockers for you to slam me into here, so you can just leave me alone, okay? Please. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone."

"You don't get the right to talk, homo!" Karofsky loomed over Kurt, getting closer yet. He tried not to flinch away too much. _Courage_.

"Your idiot homophobe friends aren't here right now! You don't have to swear by your heterosexuality!"

"I thought you weren't ever going to fucking mention that. I'll fucking kill you if you tell anyone." Kurt squeezed his eyes shut, clenching and unclenching his hands at his side. He could tell that Karofsky was doing the same, but rather in preparation to hit him.

He had never been punched by him before, always just shoved against a wall or locker or pushed to the ground. This was different, and he had no clue why. The collision of Karofsky's fist with his ribcage startled him- he had never expected him to aim that low. He wasn't just going to stand there passively as he acted as a human punching bag for the other boy, and pushed Karofsky away. His hands had barely touched Karofsky's chest before he was pulled far away from him, a wall of superheroes coming between them.

Luke and Nick were holding Karofsky back as he hurled insults at them, while Jeff, Blaine, Leo and Ethan stood in his immediate line of fire, willing to take the hits for Kurt. As if he snapped back to reality, Kurt began to cry. He could hear the others saying things to Karofsky and the occasional shout, but he wasn't able to process any of it. Erica was at his side, rubbing circles on his back soothingly and whispering support to him. The other girls seemed to be equally terrified of the bully and were clustered behind the wall of boys, but quietly supporting one another more than they were Kurt.

"Kurt?" Luke said, his strong voice being an odd sort of comfort to Kurt, "he's gone now. You're okay." He could almost believe it; Luke said it with such conviction.

"We're going to take a vote now. Put your hand up if you're in favour of ending the session early," Erica said. Kurt was too busy wiping his eyes to even consider raising his hand, but Erica didn't seem to mind that. "It's unanimous, we'll end now. You can all go home; I'm not going to keep you with notices." There was some shuffling about, but no one seemed to actually leave.

"Kurt," Blaine said, appearing in front of him. The position would have startled him if it had been anyone else, but Blaine's shortness managed to make him infinitely less scary than Karofsky. He figured it was probably best not to mention that to anyone. "I would ask if you were okay, but I think we all know the answer to that."

"I think I just need a hug," Kurt said, and Blaine immediately folded him into his arms, not letting go even as he talked to other people. Kurt realised that Blaine was going to wait until he pulled away first, and finally let go.

"I'm going to take you home."

"Okay."

"Nick, would you mind following us to Kurt's house to drop my car off?" They were back at Kurt's house in a matter of minutes, three cars pulling up. Nick hopped out of Blaine's car, passed him the keys and got into Ethan's car behind them, not asking any questions. Kurt's hands were shaking too much for him to unlock the front door of the house, so Blaine took the key from him and opened the door. Kurt wasn't sure why he was so traumatised by the encounter. It was really no worse than anything he had faced at school. His emotions were too overwhelming to really work through at that point.

Blaine looked at him with wide, concerned eyes, full of care and worry for Kurt, wordlessly asking him what he needed. Darcy and Nightbird had always been good at communicating nonverbally, but this was different. Kurt sat down in the living room, Blaine immediately sitting at his side. "Can you stay?" Kurt asked quietly, and Blaine nodded. They sat quietly for a moment as Kurt focussed on breathing properly, stopping his shaking.

"He hit you," Blaine eventually said quietly. Kurt nodded. "Can I see?" Kurt was nervous about taking his top off in front of Blaine, naturally, but he also knew it was something he needed to do. He hadn't shown the bruises to anyone, but for some reason beyond his understanding he trusted Blaine completely. He peeled off his last layer, thankful for his warm house, leaving all the evidence of the bullying on display. "Kurt..." Blaine said, wordless at the sight. His torso was covered in bruises of various sizes and colours, with a red, darkening patch where Karofsky's fist had hit his ribs. He turned around to show Blaine his back, which he knew was far worse. His shoulders tended to take most of the impact from the locker shoves, and it was visible.

"Why haven't you ever taken this to the principal?" Blaine asked, "Don't you think this much damage is enough to show that you're being physically injured by _him_?"

"Because then they ask questions, and he told me that if I ever tell anyone that he's gay then he will kill me."

"You really think he would do that, Kurt?" Kurt put his shirt back on and sat back down on the couch beside Blaine.

"I don't know," Kurt said quietly, worriedly. Blaine put his arm around Kurt's shoulders loosely, pulling him into his side. It felt completely ordinary between them and it was nothing they hadn't done already while roleplaying, but Kurt knew this was entirely different. The physical side of the action wasn't new, but coming from Blaine it was. Kurt wriggled his arms around him as they got comfortable, and then it dawned on him that they were cuddling.

"Are you feeling better now?" Blaine asked.

"I think I'll be okay in the long term. This really wasn't worse than anything I get at school, and I had a whole team of heroes there to defend me."

"Well, a group of nerds in spandex, anyway."

"Do you want to go and change?" Kurt said, realising that Blaine was still in his Nightbird costume. He hadn't even thought anything of it sooner.

"No, I'm okay. We just got comfy. So if this was as bad as it is at school, is this how you always react?"

"Not at all. I think... I wasn't worried about myself. The day he chose to bother me by tormenting Marley it was bad enough and I could hardly forgive myself for letting it happen. I was terrified for you all. I'm by no means the only gay guy in the group, to start with," Kurt said, "I think I was also upset or angry or something that he had come into my last free space. Dreamweaver is the furthest I can usually get from it all, and he came in anyway, and that makes me mad."

"I understand that, I think," Blaine said. He shifted slightly, tightening his arms around Kurt almost possessively.

"I'm sorry that you all had to get involved and end early," Kurt said quietly. They were so close that it didn't seem at all necessary to talk very loud. Blaine would have jumped to reassure him if they hadn't been sitting the way they were.

"Kurt, no. We're your friends. If we had wanted to keep out of it we could have, but you know why Leo ran off? Because he knew that he couldn't fight off Karofsky on his own."

Kurt paused for a moment in thought. "How did Leo know that it was Karofsky? How did he know _anything_?" he asked. Blaine sighed.

"Will you get catastrophically angry if I tell you that I've told a few people that you're being bullied?" He looked at Kurt with those big, hopeful eyes, and Kurt couldn't be mad at him for him.

"No, it's okay. It's not exactly a secret."

"Well, it isn't exactly hard to pick a large jock looking type in a McKinley letterman jacket anyway, so even though none of us have actually seen Karofsky other than Marley; it wasn't exactly hard to guess." Kurt hummed in agreement. "You didn't want any of them to know that you didn't fall."

"Because that's different. It just... leads to more questions."

"It wasn't just me, you know. Marley told Unique, because they tell each other everything, and they both told Erica and Luke. They told me, even though I already knew, and then it kind of spread."

"They told you?" Kurt asked, having never heard that part of it all himself.

"They noticed that we were getting close, I guess, thought I should know," Blaine said.

"It's funny, because I think it happened the other way around. You knew and then we became better friends." Kurt remembered then that they were, for lack of a better term, cuddling. If that wasn't an indicator of how much better friends they had gotten, he wasn't sure what was. Finn walked into the living room and looked shocked at the pair, and Blaine just gave him a little _not now_ gesture that Finn seemed to accept as he continued walking through, not even lapsing their conversation at all.

"I don't think you could have trusted me enough for any of this other stuff if we hadn't talked about my bullying first, Kurt."

"Probably. Does it matter?" Blaine went to say something, but then his phone rang, breaking the flow between them. Kurt wriggled away from him, making space for Blaine to take his phone out of... Kurt wasn't sure where exactly he had pulled it from, but it appeared as though he had a secret pocket somewhere in his suit.

"It's my dad," Blaine explained, looking apologetically at Kurt, "I've really got to take this, sorry."

"No, it's fine. Go ahead." Kurt decided it was time to wash his face after all the tears, simultaneously giving Blaine some privacy in the living room as he left to the bathroom. He couldn't help but overhear Blaine's conversation with his father while he wiped his face.

"Yeah, I was at my improv group, but I finished early so I'm at my friend's house... yes, dad, I _have_ known him long enough to know that he isn't going to kill me... he won't injure my vocal chords either, honestly. We're not shouting." Kurt couldn't help but giggle slightly at the conversation that Blaine was having. Calling the roleplay an 'improv group' was interesting, but it wasn't totally incorrect, and it seemed to keep Blaine's dad happy. "Yeah, tomorrow I have piano and vocal lessons... No, show choir practice was today... yes, I'm still the lead soloist... Look, I'll be home by seven, okay? We can talk about all this during dinner... dad, Dalton doesn't _have_ a school musical. Yeah. Okay. Bye." Kurt took that as his cue to walk naturally from the bathroom, pretending that he hadn't been listening to most of the conversation.

"Sorry, my dad was just pestering me about how my acting class was going," Blaine said. He made his way back to the couch and sat down, Kurt joining him. "Do you want to cuddle again?" Kurt nodded and shuffled closer so Blaine could wrap his arms around him, glad that it wasn't just some kind of one off thing that had happened between them. That just about counted as a conversation, and that was fine with Kurt.

"And your acting class is a cover for nerds in spandex," Kurt prompted.

"Exactly, but to tell my dad that it's an improvisational workshop seems to be better. Nick and Jeff play along with it when they talk to him, so that helps."

"Does your dad always just call you to check how your classes are going?"

Blaine sighed. "A lot of the time, yeah. But if I was at home he would be asking why I wasn't practicing some instrument or another. Last week he asked if I had done my violin practice."

"And?"

"I've never played violin in my life."

"Um, okay. Why do you take so many instrumental lessons?" Kurt asked. "Sorry, I'm asking a lot of questions. I don't mean to be nosey." He absolutely did mean to be nosey. He still knew hardly anything about the boy who was rapidly becoming one of his best friends, and if Blaine was about to start talking, Kurt was going to prompt it accordingly.

"No, it's fine. You would find all this out within a minute of stepping into my house, to be honest, so it's probably best you get some advance warning. Do you want the short answer or the long answer?"

"I have time."

"By learning multiple instruments I'm increasing my repertoire which is a marketable skill when applying for colleges, as my mom and dad tell me. I'm also involved in about as many extracurricular performance groups as I can manage to keep them happy, because that will look good, too. So, for college."

"'For college' being the short answer?"

"No," Blaine said, "the short answer is that I have stage parents."

"So they want you to..." Kurt started.

"Be a musical theatre major. They don't mind too much where I go to college, so long as I have an acting degree. I'm thinking New York."

"Blaine, you're a sophomore. You have years yet before you even have to start worrying."

"Not to them, I don't. Best to get started early, you see."

"...The other week you told me that you don't really want all the solos. Is that parental pressure too? Because you really are very good."

"Thanks, Kurt," Blaine said, naturally and politely accepting the compliment first, "No, well, not really. I love performing, I really do. They just push that I'm constantly practicing and improving and that kind of sucks the fun out of it. My brother Cooper is an actor, and he's not exactly great at it- but he's living in LA, he gets the odd commercial here and there, and it keeps them happy."

"Ah, so you got all the talent?" Kurt teased.

"Well, not _all_ the talent," Blaine said, blushing slightly, "they just started an awful lot earlier with me. Coop's almost ten years older than me, you see, so by then they knew that I needed to be stuck in my first classes as a preschooler."

"So singing?" Kurt asked. Of all the things he knew about Blaine, singing certainly seemed to be the most logical of the lessons for him as a preschooler.

"Um, no, I actually did ballet when I was little. Only for a couple of years, and then when I was six I started piano and singing lessons. I picked up guitar the summer before I started high school."

"And that one was your choice?" Blaine nodded. "I did ballet, too. But it was at my request, not because my mom thought that I needed to perfect my young dance skills."

"When did you stop?"

"Right about the first time someone called me gay." To make it worse, it had been one of the parents of a girl in his class. Nowadays Kurt could only imagine he would say _"Can't you just grow up?"_ but the young Kurt Hummel was powerless against adults, no matter how immature.

"Oh. Ouch."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad your parents let you take the lessons in the first place. There are a lot of parents out there who would worry that encouraging their son to dance would just set him up for being gay," Blaine said. Kurt stifled a laugh when he realised that both of the boys he knew who had done ballet- him and Blaine- were both indeed gay.

"I'm eternally grateful for how supportive my parents are. Or was, I suppose is the case of my mother." There was nothing sad in his correction; he just felt that it was one that needed to be made sometimes. He missed his mom all the time, but he wasn't lacking without her around. "Your parents didn't worry?"

"Cooper is one of the most heterosexual men I know, and they were a little surprised when I came out initially but they got over themselves pretty quickly. They both come from backgrounds where they can't afford to be startled by gay men," Blaine explained with a little shrug. Kurt was glad his experience had been so painless.

"Oh, what do your parents do?" Kurt asked.

"My dad was- and still is- an actor. His company isn't hugely exciting these days, really more of a community theatre kind of thing. I try not to get involved past seeing the shows on opening night, but they tour around a bit and I think my dad directs or something, I don't know. My mum was a ballerina, but she retired before she hit thirty, as most of them do. Now she's living off of a quiet fortune that she inherited."

"Well, no wonder they're stage parents then. You would think they would be the standard living vicariously through you parents."

"I wish. That would be better than this whole never meeting their standard thing. Like, I can perform at theme parks, that's a thing I've done, but I'll never be as good an actor as _he_ is." Kurt knew that Blaine didn't mean Cooper. He meant his father, whose perception of his own skills was so high that his son could never match it. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to meet the man who made Blaine feel so small. He snuggled just a tiny bit closer to Blaine, telling him that he would always be good enough, knowing that between them enough tears had already been shed that day.


	10. Fun Party

**To:** Defenders of Dreamweaver _(list)_

**From:** Erica Leathart _(imbringingsexy-jet-cat)_

**Subject:** It's getting cold

Hey guys,

It's well and truly winter now, so all Wednesday sessions are being shifted to our house after our holiday break until it gets warms enough for us to use the park again. Once school has started up again for you in the New Year we'll get back to the roleplay, but for now just have fun with your families and all that other good stuff.

Even though it would be inappropriate for Luke and I to go, Jeff has asked us to pass on that he is having a New Year's party at his house and that you are all invited (he told me to point to Kurt here, but I didn't mention this because the session ended before we could discuss this stuff).

As per usual, any ICCs can be sent to Luke and we will count them as having happened. Unless you're Leo and Ethan, because the Carlton/Hawkbeak thing is getting weird and you never even talk to each other during the sessions. I mean really you guys, do we need to start a drug ring?

Happy holidays!

Erica (and Luke)

* * *

**To:** all

**From:** Blaine Anderson _(Anderson-Blaine)_

**Subject:** RE: it's getting cold

...drug ring?

Did we miss something? o_O

Blaine

...

" _And he's got to be strong, and he's got to be fast, and he's got to be fresh from the fight."_

* * *

**To:** all

**From:** Leonard Kavex _(LeoKavex)_

**Subject:** RE: it's getting cold

We weren't IN a drug ring! We were just trying to DIFFUSE a drug ring.

There's a difference, gosh.

* * *

**To:** all

**From:** Ethan Thompson _(ethanasaurus)_

**Subject:** RE: it's getting cold

Leo, we did invent a hypothetical drug ring of NPCs to diffuse. That's almost like starting a drug ring.

All I'm saying is that we aren't perfect, even if Erica exaggerated a teeny bit :)

* * *

**To:** all

**From:** Leonard Kavex _(LeoKavex)_

**Subject:** bitch please

You all know that I'm as close to perfect as y'all are gonna get. Come absorb the fabulous while you can ;)

* * *

After a lot of insistence from Blaine, Kurt finally gave in and decided to go to Jeff's New Year's Eve party. They had arranged for everyone to stay over at Jeff's house since so many of them would be coming from Lima, and Westerville was far enough away to stop them from going home too late at night. Kurt drove Marley, Unique, Leo and Hadley over from Lima, since all the others were from Westerville anyway, and all of them planned to stay the night somewhere in Westerville, whether or not that ended up as being Jeff's house after all.

Kurt did a double take as Hadley confirmed for him that they were in fact in the right place for the party. Jeff's house was huge, with a well tended garden out the front and ivy draping the walls of the house. It was the single most stereotypical house for a rich family that Kurt had ever seen, practically oozing Von Trapp, and it didn't fit the image he had of Jeff at all.

"It's a big house," Marley said first, as they all got out of the car.

"He has a big family," Leo contributed, "I guess they need the space."

"How big is big?"Unique asked.

"I think he has four siblings, but I don't know where or when I heard that," Kurt said, "I'm not really the best source of information. Still the newbie, remember?"

"Four sounds about right," Marley agreed. The group headed to the door together, which was thrown open before they even got there by Jeff.

"Hey!" he said excitedly, "everyone's downstairs in the rec room. You can leave your coats and stuff up here. There are drinks and things down there, just go ahead and help yourselves." Leo and Hadley raced down the stairs right away while the others hung back a bit. Kurt mostly couldn't follow them by how fast they dashed off and he had never been to Jeff's house in order to know where the stairs were.

"By drinks do you mean like, alcohol?" Marley asked Jeff quietly, obviously embarrassed by her question. Sometimes Kurt forgot just how much younger than him she was, but then she made it clear.

Jeff wrinkled up his nose. "My parents are in the living room. Besides, everything is more fun when you can remember it the next day." Marley breathed a sigh of relief, and Kurt was honestly glad that he wasn't the only one who didn't want to drink that night.

The group headed downstairs, Jeff clearly satisfied that everyone he had expected had arrived. In the rec room, Blaine, Nick, Ethan and a girl that Kurt didn't recognise were playing ping-pong, Hadley and Leo were standing by the food table and there was a small group by the TV, watching some movie that Kurt didn't immediately know. It appeared as though the members of the roleplay weren't the only ones invited to the party, but he didn't mind that too much. Kurt made his way over to the ping-pong table to say hi to the others that he did know, not missing Blaine's grin as he got close.

"Hey!" Blaine greeted, catching the ball instead of hitting it to offer his arms open to Kurt for a hug, which he accepted.

"Hi," Kurt said, "and hi to you guys, too," he added as he stepped away from Blaine.

"Do you want to swap in?" the girl asked.

"Sure, unless you want to keep playing."

"No, I'm really awful. You would think I'd be better since I live here, but I'm not."

"Oh, right- Kurt, this is Jaz, Jaz, this is Kurt," Nick introduced, "and Jaz, no offence, but I think I'd prefer Kurt as a partner right about now."

"That's okay. I could go and get Jeffrey or Leo, if you guys wanted to play proper couples," Jaz suggested. Blaine looked puzzled for a moment.

"Oh! We aren't a couple," Blaine said, glancing towards Kurt.

"Sorry, Jeff said that... never mind." She shook her head and then walked off, leaving Kurt to fill her space at the table.

"Jaz is Jeff's twin sister," Nick supplied, although Kurt had never asked, "and over there is his younger brother, Josiah." Kurt looked over at the TV watchers and found that he could quite easily pick the blond in the group who could be a Sterling.

"Doesn't he have other siblings?" Kurt asked. Blaine passed him the ball and he served, and they began to fall into the rhythm of playing.

"Yeah, he has two older brothers, JJ and James, but they're at college."

"...So all of their names start with J?"

"Yup. Junior, James, Jasmine, Jeffrey, Josiah." Ethan missed the ball and began to apologise to Blaine profusely as he retrieved it from where it had bounced to behind them. They kept playing for a while until Hadley and Josiah began hovering as though they wanted to play, and Nick and Ethan's boyfriends started to glance at them flirtatiously from across the room. Blaine and Kurt decided to stop playing along with the others, mostly not wanting to get involved in anything with Hadley. There was still some tension between them, even with her having a new, frighteningly Blaine-esque boyfriend.

With cans of soda in their hands, Blaine took Kurt around the room to introduce him to the people he hadn't met yet. Most of the other roleplayers had evidently met the others at previous parties or something, but Kurt was still by far the newest member of the group. He was glad to have Blaine as overlap to ensure he met people. It turned out most of the guys he didn't know already were Warblers, and the girls were either their girlfriends or Jasmine's friends (or in a few cases they were both). There were a lot of names for him to remember, and he barely bothered to even listen.

"We should play an entirely sober game of spin the bottle," Josiah suggested, tapping Jeff's arm repeatedly. Something inside Kurt didn't hate the suggestion.

"You just want to kiss Marley," Nick teased.

"Can we play?" Josiah said, not denying Nick's accusations at all.

"I'll play," Jeff said, "let's find a bottle; you get interested people in a circle." Josiah rounded up a fair group, though there were still a few who were adamantly not going to play. Kurt found himself sitting in the circle between Marley and Nick, with Blaine a few people over. There were a few of the other Warblers in the circle- Wes, Trent, and Thad, Kurt thought- and a few of the girls- Sophia, Kendra, Mel and Chloe, as Marley whispered to him. They had seemingly been brought in to balance out the heterosexuality a little bit more. Kurt could tell that Marley was nervous about playing, but by the way she smiled back at Josiah he wasn't worried about her too much.

"Standard rules," Jeff announced, "Re-spins only to avoid incest, same sex couples are accepted if not encouraged-" Kurt watched as the various couples in the circle fired winks at one another, "and you're going to end up kissing two people in a row, deal with it."

Jeff spun first, landing on Nick. The pair kissed with a lot of enthusiasm and obvious tongue, finally breaking apart to Jasmine's call of, "you rigged it!"

"Never question the bottle," Jeff said mischievously as he filled Nick's space in the circle. Nick's spin landed on Jaz, and he quirked an eyebrow at her. She made her way into the circle and kissed him quickly, but no one complained about its chasteness. They all understood that kissing your twin's boyfriend right after they kissed them was going to be odd for all involved.

More kisses followed, not all of them as entertaining as others. Jaz and Trent. Trent and Kendra. Kendra and Chloe. Chloe and Wes. Wes and Sophia. Sophia and Josiah.

Josiah somehow managed to spin Marley on his turn, and their kiss was sweet, even for the nature of the game. Everyone in the circle seemed to smirk about it, as though there was some history there that Kurt hadn't caught up on yet. When Josiah returned to the circle, he smiled supportively at Marley as she spun the bottle. She seemed entirely relieved when it fell on Kurt, and their friendship made it easy to get it done without any fuss.

Then, with Kurt in the middle of the circle, he wondered what the worst case scenario would be. Kissing one of the Warblers who he barely knew, he thought. The bottle spun a few times, and seemed to take forever to slow down.

Finally, the bottle stopped spinning, pointed perfectly at Blaine.

Kurt had too many feelings to pinpoint which one exactly he was feeling most- whether it was excitement, shyness, or fear. Blaine didn't seem to be shy about it at all; moving to the middle of the circle and cupping Kurt's face gently, looking him in the eyes with a soft smile.

Their lips finally met, and Kurt thought he could die happy in that moment. Blaine's lips were soft and warm, and they moved along Kurt's with ease and grace. Blaine broke the kiss for a moment before kissing him again, that time catching Kurt's top lip between his, setting them up for a much less chaste kiss. Kurt knew that the others were starting to call things at them, but in that moment he just couldn't care less. Blaine finally pulled away, and Kurt lamented the fact that he couldn't just kiss Blaine again. He retreated to the open spot in the circle, while Blaine spun the bottle.

There were footsteps on the stairs before the bottle had stopped, and the three Sterling kids looked worriedly towards the staircase, causing the circle to quickly disband as they all sensed the panic of a parent coming down.

"The pizzas are here," Jeff's dad said, "Do you want me to bring them down?" he asked his children.

"Me and Kurt will get them," Blaine said quickly, grabbing Kurt's hand and pulling him up the stairs before he even had time to think about it. Blaine led him to the kitchen where the boxes were stacked on the counter, but stopped Kurt before he could reach for a pile. "I, uh," Blaine started, but he stopped talking right away. "Hi," he said quietly instead, and they both laughed.

"Don't get all awkward about it now, we cuddle on a regular basis," Kurt said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Um, yeah, I guess we do," Blaine laughed uneasily, "but... that was new."

"Yeah, it was. I, uh, I liked it, though. It was a good new."

"Right, good new," Blaine repeated. Kurt wasn't sure how much he was blushing, but he figured that Blaine was feeling as awkward as he was too. "I'm sorry, Kurt. You deserved something better than that for your first real kiss. I mean, Marley doesn't really count, right? You barely touched each other."

"Oh, that wasn't really my first kiss," Kurt said, trying to be casual. In honesty that was about as real as his kisses had gotten, the first where he had really felt anything.

"What?" Blaine said, "But you've never dated anyone."

"Since when did anyone have to be dating anyone?" Kurt said, "My first kiss was a cheerleader at my school, Brittany. I didn't count that on account of she's a girl and I'm gay."

"Fair enough, but then I'd still be the first guy." Kurt laughed humourlessly.

"Nope, Karofsky kind of took that one from me already."

"Oh Kurt, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to bring that up or anything. You could have told me that he kissed you sooner, you know? We've talked about all the other Karofsky stuff already."

"I know, I just don't believe in outing people, I guess. I don't know, Blaine. I just tried to move past it. It was awful, but I had things to distract me, more important things."

"Such as?" Blaine paused, "how long ago was this?"

"A couple of months, right after I started the LARP, actually. It was the day of Nightbird and Darcy's first date," Kurt admitted, "Dreamweaver is the furthest I can run from him, remember?"

"Kurt, I could have kissed you before him, it's not fair that he got there first because I'm slow, I'm so, so, sorry..." Kurt leapt for joy on the inside at the thought that Blaine had even thought about kissing him before tonight.

"Hey, it's okay. I can count whatever firsts I like, remember? You just said that yourself a minute ago. Look, the others are expecting us to bring the pizza down, right, so we should probably do that." Blaine nodded. Kurt reached for the boxes, and Blaine stopped him again.

"Kurt, could I... could I kiss you?" Kurt nodded, and Blaine leant forward to kiss him. Kurt slid his arms around Blaine's neck to pull him that little bit closer, succeeding in deepening the kiss. Blaine backed Kurt against the wall, never breaking contact for more than a moment, and Kurt didn't have it in him to even think about stopping.

"Yeah, they came up ages ago, so I think we should see where they w-woah," Jeff said, startling Kurt and Blaine apart, Kurt's arms still resting on Blaine's shoulders. "We didn't mean to interrupt anything." Jaz, who must have been who Jeff was talking to, was standing in the kitchen too.

"It's fine," Kurt said, clearing his throat. Blaine smiled at him shyly as he stepped away from him, returning to the stacks of boxes and taking one. Jeff grabbed the other and the pair walked from the room.

"It's about freaking time," Kurt heard Jeff say to Blaine as they left the room.

Jaz quirked an eyebrow at Kurt, "not a couple, huh?"

"Believe me, that's the closest we've ever gotten to being one," Kurt said, "I'm a little confused, but I think hopeful is a better word."

"Okay, let's grab some more stuff so you don't return empty handed." She found some extra snacks and drinks for them to carry down to the rec room with them, and when they got there everyone seemed to have their eyes glued to Kurt and Blaine. The party game sort of atmosphere had totally dissolved, and everyone was back to casually hanging out. Someone had put on some music that he didn't know, creating a nice background buzz. Blaine looked at him across the room and smiled, before finding his shoes all too interesting. Kurt couldn't believe he was getting embarrassed now.

"Kurt!" Jeff said as he bounced over to him, probably noticing the slight awkwardness hanging in the room as everyone looked between Blaine and Kurt. The thought that they all knew what had gone on upstairs didn't comfort him. "You ever heard I Fight Dragons before?"

"Um, no?"

"They're the band we're playing now. Just hold on a moment. Listen." Kurt listened. "That's the noise that Gameboys make when you turn them on. Neat, huh?"

"No one cares about the Gameboy noises!" Josiah called across the room, and Jeff pulled the finger at him in retaliation.

"That's pretty cool, actually," Kurt said. He might not have appreciated it to the full extent, but any time anyone was that excited about anything it was best to just play along. Excitable friends were some of the best sorts of friends.

"They're kind of geeky, I guess. They sing songs about superheroes," Jeff explained.

"How fitting with our friend group."

"I know!"

"Does everyone to ever visit your house need to hear this speech?" Blaine asked. Kurt was surprised to see him, since he had clearly crept up behind them.

"Yes, but I'm done now," Jeff said hurriedly, before effectively running off from them. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"No surprises there," Blaine said. Kurt watched as Blaine's eyes flicked from his lips up to his eyes and immediately could feel himself blushing. He hadn't stopped thinking about kissing his friend- could the word still be applied? – Since the kiss, either.

"Is it always going to be this awkward between us now?" Kurt said, running a hand through his hair absentmindedly.

"Not forever, I hope," Blaine said, "but it's kind of a... nice awkward?"

"Yeah," Kurt agreed, "nice awkward."

"Kurt, will you go out with me properly?" Blaine asked quietly, "I'm trying not to attract their attention," he explained, "but I'd like to go out with you properly. No characters, no annoying friend group, just us."

"Yes, I'd like that." Blaine grinned.

"We'll work the details out later," he said, and neither one of them could stop smiling for the rest of the evening.

They held hands all through the evening, opting for sitting in the back corner of the rec room instead of bouncing around as their friends seemed to be doing. Five minutes before midnight the group clustered around the TV, ready to watch the ball drop, and when everyone finally shouted their New Year's greeting, Kurt wasn't even surprised to find Blaine kissing him again.

After midnight the party settled down as most of the Westerville based guests left, leaving only the roleplay members sitting in a loose group around the TV. Blaine and Kurt sat on the couch, Blaine with his arm around Kurt's shoulders, and the various other couples were also getting cuddly. Marley and Josiah sat close to one another but didn't touch, while Unique, Hadley and Jaz formed the last group.

"You know what isn't fair about spin the bottle?" Ethan mused aloud.

"The double kiss system?" Jasmine suggested.

"Better than the double spin system," Jeff replied. She poked her tongue out at him.

"No, that I didn't get to kiss anyone since your dad came downstairs."

"Aww, sweetie," Leo said, and he didn't hesitate to make it better.

"So what's up with you two?" Nick asked, gesturing to Kurt and Blaine. Kurt wasn't at all nervous about the latest advancements between them when it came to the group he was with now. Before there were too many people he didn't know, unknown variables, for him to feel comfortable. This more intimate group was made up of the people who were often his best friends.

"We're going to go on a date," Kurt said, "and we'll see what happens after that."

"I'll print the wedding invitations," Unique teased.

"Do you know how long we've waited for this?" Jeff said.

"Can't be longer than we have," Blaine said, pressing one sweet, chaste kiss to Kurt's mouth. No one in the group made any comment, and Kurt knew in that moment that right there, in the group, in Blaine's arms- that was where he was meant to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Firstly, good golly, I know this was a bad chapter if you get bad second hand embarrassment but it was a nice kind of awkwardness, right?
> 
> Secondly, yes, naming all of Jeff's siblings with Js was a bit of a stab at Riker Lynch's family. Hey R5ers! You also have my full consent to imagine Jaz as Rydel and Josiah as Ross (or Rocky even, if you like).
> 
> The geeking about I Fight Dragons will be of more relevance later, but the title of this fic comes from a line in one of their songs :)


	11. First Dates

Kurt and Blaine didn't get further than a day later when it came to planning their date.

After a night of sleeping in Jeff's basement rec room side by side, Kurt woke up to find that Blaine's arm was over him protectively. Either Blaine was a sleep snuggler or he had flailed in the night to Kurt's fortune, but he didn't particularly mind which. His hair was all messy and his curls were free, which made Kurt's heart swoop. There was a certain kind of familiarity and comfort that came with waking up next to one another, and he was glad that he had had the experience, even if no more had come from it than them crashing on a shared mattress.

Kurt took the Lima kids home again, slept for another couple of hours, told his dad that he was going to be going out, and then he started getting ready. He was pretty sure he looked like he was running on minimal sleep, but he was so excited at the prospect of seeing Blaine- on a _date_ \- that he couldn't even care. He did his best to compensate for missing his moisturising routine the day before, he selected the absolute perfect outfit, and he waited impatiently for Blaine to arrive.

"You look happy," Burt commented as Kurt sat on the window seat to look out at the front yard.

"I am happy," Kurt replied. He hadn't felt that happy in a long time, and he was glad that he showed it. He had been told that he looked sad a lot of times in the past few months, and now he felt like he could truly be on the other side of it. With Blaine around, Kurt couldn't imagine ever feeling as sad as he used to be ever again.

"Where are you off to tonight anyway?" Burt asked, sitting down nearby so they could continue the conversation.

"Breadstix. Nothing too fancy."

"You look like it's fancy."

"That's because I'm going on a date tonight," Kurt admitted, unable to stop the smile that came with the thought.

"Oh, well, that's really nice, kiddo. So when is he coming around here for dinner then?" Kurt turned away from the window to find Burt with his arms folded. Burt had had years to perfect his papa bear routine exactly for these occasions. Kurt thought he was lucky he was an only child (when you excluded Finn), because he could only imagine how much worse this scenario could be for a daughter of Burt's.

"It's not like he's my boyfriend yet, dad. This is our first proper date." Burt widened his eyes at Kurt at the word 'proper'. He could only imagine the scenarios that were playing through Burt's mind at the term, at the thought that dates had happened in some form.

"You could have fooled me. What's his name?"

"Uh... Blaine. It's Blaine. You've met him already." Burt smiled for a moment and Kurt didn't miss it, but he had his role on again promptly.

"Doesn't stop me wanting to meet your _boyfriend_. He's different now," Burt reasoned. Kurt rolled his eyes but didn't dare question his father's logic.

"You said he was charming."

"Well, he didn't want to get in your pants then!" Burt was really getting exasperated about nothing.

Kurt could feel himself blushing. He didn't really want to talk about sex in any way with Burt, even at simple connotation levels. "He's still not trying to do that, dad."

"I was a teenage boy once, I know how it goes."

"Dad, I'm a teenage boy now," Kurt said, and Burt opened his mouth to respond, "And I'm not sleeping with him!" Kurt added.

"That makes it worse, that you're a teenage boy! There are two teenage guys; you don't have a girl to keep it going all slow and old fashioned. You know what they say about how guys only have one thing on their mind."

"I like romance, dad. I want hand holding and being walked to the door and having good night kisses. I don't want to be a stereotype enabler, but if you're that worried, I guess I'm not _that_ different to my teenage female friends. We have the same ideals even if we don't have the same equipment." Burt sighed, but Kurt's point seemed to have gotten through to him. It was just in time too, as Blaine's car pulled up in the driveway.

"Go on, bud," Burt said, "scram. You have a first date to go on." Kurt thanked his dad and didn't even refuse when Burt handed him twenty dollars. He had a feeling that Blaine would be paying for dinner anyway, but he knew when to accept his dad's gestures of approval. The smile Burt gave him, one that absolutely screamed of how proud he was, made it all worthwhile.

The doorbell rang and Kurt counted to five before he opened the door, making sure not to look too desperate. Blaine was dressed absolutely perfectly for the occasion, and Kurt wondered if maybe he had gone home and spent a similar amount of time getting ready. He was wearing a polo shirt and bowtie that Kurt thought was adorable and so utterly Blaine, the perfect balance of preppy and whimsical.

"Hey Kurt," he greeted, "Oh, this is for you." He presented him with a single yellow rose, with a red at the tip which Kurt's cheeks were doing their best to imitate.

"Thanks," he replied, taking the flower. He put it on the table just inside the door so that his hands were free before hugging Blaine, the proper kind of greeting. A kiss would have been too forward even though they had done it before, but the hug was perfectly fitted. Blaine snuck a kiss to his cheek anyway, and he really wasn't going to complain.

They finally left the doorway and climbed into Blaine's car. Blaine started the car and fiddled with the radio for a moment before they drove away. "Breadstix is sort of the place to go for McKinley, right?" Blaine asked, "Like, taking you there is going with the social norms?"

"Since when do you care about social norms?" Kurt asked teasingly.

"I just want to make sure that your first date is everything you have imagined it to be."

"Well, I've already got you here; I doubt it can match any other fantasy quite as well." Blaine smiled down for a moment before he seemed to remember he was driving and focussed on the road again.

"You've fantasised about dating me?" he asked bashfully. _And kissing you, and marrying you, and..._

"I've had a crush on you for a really long time, Blaine," Kurt said, trying to deter the subject ever so slightly. They were on a date for crying out loud, there was no reason for him to be embarrassed by his attraction to the boy.

"I know. I think everyone knew."

"They thought something was going on between us from the moment Darcy and Nightbird started dating."

"Well they weren't completely wrong, we were kind of flirty right from the beginning. It took me a little longer than you though, I think."

"You flirt with everyone," Kurt teased.

"I do not! I'm just a friendly person!" Blaine insisted, "But Breadstix is okay, yes?"

"Yes. It's the perfect cliché first date location, and I'll be glad to say I've done it when it's over."

"See? You _are_ glad that I was meeting social norms."

"We never have to go to Breadstix again after tonight if you decide that it's a completely awful restaurant. I suppose you Dalton boys usually take your dates somewhere more upmarket than most other high schoolers."

"That's true, I think. You're the first date I've had in a really long time, though, so I wouldn't know. We can have the next date on my home turf and then I can take you to any upmarket restaurant I like," Blaine reasoned.

"Next date?" Kurt said, maybe his excitement a touch too audible.

"Was I not meant to plan ahead? I just thought that we had pretty much agreed that we like each other enough for one date and that should mean we like each other enough for more after that."

"I liked hanging out with you before the dating, and I like kissing you, so…" Blaine laughed.

"I'm glad, Kurt." Blaine parked the car outside Breadstix and unbuckled his seat belt and turned to face Kurt instead of getting out. He took a deep breath before saying, "Would you mind if I kissed you now?" Kurt shook his head, and Blaine leaned over, cupping his face gently to guide their lips together. It was over much too soon, and then Kurt's door was being opened for him. He was so caught up with how Blaine could take his breath away that he was only vaguely aware of Blaine having left the car and darted around to hold it open all gentlemanly. Kurt stepped out of the car and let Blaine hold his hand as they walked inside.

They sat opposite one another in a booth, the conversation between them flowing as easily as it did whenever they were together, regardless of location. He was enjoying every second of it, and when their desserts arrived, Blaine took his hand across the table. Kurt wasn't sure why he wasn't completely worried by the gesture. Usually any pride he had about being gay was completely stamped out of him and he didn't want to encourage anyone to pick on him, but Blaine made him feel so safe and secure.

"What do you think about Hadley's boyfriend?" Blaine asked, "Like, am I the only one who is a little bit suspicious by how he looks like me?"

"No, he totally does! And his name is Blake, too. I'm impressed by her efforts to find someone exactly like you to persuade us all that she no longer has a crush on you."

"Do you think that's what she's trying to do?" Kurt nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, absolutely. It's not even subtle."

"He looks less scared than I did at his age," Blaine mused.

"And he can't sing," Kurt pointed out. Blaine laughed, thanking Kurt for the compliment to his own vocals.

"Kurt!" a female voice called from across the restaurant, causing Kurt to turn so fast that Blaine pulled his hand away reflexively. Over in the Cheerio booth were Santana and Brittany, along with their cheerleader friends- or at least they were, until they decided to saunter over to Kurt's booth instead. "Fancy seeing you here, lady Hummel."

"Santana," Kurt greeted monotonously, "always a pleasure."

"Hi!" Brittany said brightly, missing the obvious annoyance in Kurt's voice, "is this your boyfriend, Kurt?" he looked at Blaine, who just raised his eyebrows at him with a smile.

"Uh… yes. This is Blaine, my boyfriend." He didn't miss Blaine's attempt to try not to smile too big. He ultimately failed, but Kurt knew exactly how he was feeling. _Boyfriend_ sounded so good.

"Damn, Hummel, you know how to pick them," Santana said, squeezing into the booth beside Blaine. Brittany hesitated for a moment before sitting down next to Kurt, as though she knew she would be interrupting something but had some innate desire to follow along behind Santana.

"We were just about to go, actually-"

"Don't worry Kurt, you can finish your cheesecake still," Blaine said. Kurt wasn't sure whether he should have been thankful or not for it.

"I'm Santana," she introduced, "and this is my girl Brittany. You're a Gargler, right?"

"Um, excuse me?" Blaine said, taken aback at the comment.

"You know, the show choir at gay Hogwarts."

"Warbler! He's a Warbler," Kurt said quickly as Blaine looked vaguely embarrassed. At second thought he realised that the four people who went to Dalton that he knew best were all gay, and he hadn't exactly hurried to ask the other Warblers that he met about their sexual orientation. For all he knew they _could_ all be gay. Blaine _had_ mentioned that they had some weird processes and traditions.

"Same thing, right?" Santana stood up from the booth, although she had barely just sat down, and Brittany hopped happily to her side, "well, it was nice to meet you, Fluttershy," Blaine nodded in recognition, taking a sip from his drink, "remember that it's polite to swallow because spitters are quitters." Blaine visibly tried his hardest not to do just that as the cheerleaders walked away.

"Sorry about her," Kurt said, "Are you okay?" Blaine cleared his throat.

"I'm fine. I wasn't expecting her to go from _My Little Pony_ to blowjobs, though." Kurt smiled slightly.

"Well, there's Santana for you."

"Boyfriend though, huh?" Blaine asked, smiling adorably at Kurt. The new word still made Kurt flutter on the inside, especially when it was attached to Blaine.

"Um, yeah, if you want. I know it's kind of the norm these days to go on more dates than this before going exclusive."

"Kurt Hummel," Blaine started, taking his hand across the table, "will you go steady with me?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "I'd love to."

"No one says 'go steady' anymore, but I kind of like it," Blaine said.

"I'm not surprised in the slightest." Blaine called their waiter over to get the bill and didn't bat an eyelid before he paid, and Kurt knew just to let him. "Are you going to pay for all our dates like this?" he asked nonetheless.

"Does it make you uncomfortable? Because I don't have to. I just have a lot of money that I don't do anything with and it's kind of how I show affection, I guess," Kurt smiled at his choice of words, and Blaine didn't miss it. "Yes, affection. I _like_ you, Kurt. We just agreed that we're a couple, you would think you would understand by now that I'm not joking."

"I know. It's just hard to believe that for once everything is coming up Kurt."

"Come on, let's get out of here." They slid out of the booth and Blaine put his hand on Kurt's lower back as he guided him from the restaurant and to the car. "So, what do you want to do now? The night is young and so are we."

"You didn't plan further than dinner? I'm surprised," Kurt teased.

"I have about five plans, really."

Kurt thought for a moment about what it was that he actually would like to do. "Is it too late at night to go walking in the park?"

Blaine checked his watch. "I think so. Why do you ask?"

"Because with Nightbird and Darcy… it's nice. There's no pressure to do anything but talk and get to know each other better," Kurt admitted.

"I have an idea." They got into the car and Blaine drove, refusing to answer any of Kurt's questions about the location of the next part of their date. Kurt stopped paying attention to where they were even going until Blaine parked the car. He looked around and realised that Blaine had taken him right back home, though they were parked a little way down the road. "How much will your parents hear if we sit in your yard?"

Kurt shrugged. "Not a lot, as long as we don't sit right outside the kitchen window." Blaine grabbed blankets out of the back of his car- of _course_ he kept blankets in there- and Kurt walked him to a spot at the edge of the garden. Blaine spread out one blanket for them to sit on, and then wrapped the other around his shoulders, offering an open arm to Kurt. He shuffled over until he was close into Blaine's side, and Blaine closed the blanket around them again.

"Does this satisfy how you were wanting to talk?" Blaine asked.

"This is nicer than walking around," Kurt replied. He was genuinely content with the set up. Any time spent with Blaine was great, and the times when Kurt could sit with Blaine's arms around him were some of his favourites. He made him feel so safe and wanted, feelings that he was beginning to find harder and harder to associate with some of his best friends.

"Mm, I agree."

"What sort of things should we learn about each other now we're this far?" Kurt asked. Blaine shrugged.

"You can ask me anything you want to, I won't mind. That way we can get all the little stuff out of the way. Like, I don't know, what's your favourite class at school?"

"Besides glee club? French. And you?"

"I like music best, but I like English a lot, too," Blaine said. He paused for a moment before saying, "okay, now you ask something."

"What's your favourite musical?" Kurt asked. It was an important question for him to know the answer to, especially when it came to his new boyfriend.

"I really like _Rent_ a lot, but my favourite sort of changes depending on my mood," Blaine answered.

"Are you more of a Sondheim or a Webber fan?"

"That's not fair, you asked two questions. But that changes, too. Overall probably Sondheim, but Webber has his gems that you have to give him credit for, no matter how strongly you support Sondheim."

" _Wicked_ is my favourite," Kurt said, answering his own question.

"It's a classic. Like a Broadway staple. And your second answer?"

"I don't think I could choose between them. _Wicked_ is Stephen Schwartz, so I can't even be biased." Blaine laughed.

"That's adorable. Who would you cast yourself as?"

"Galinda. Well, Guy-linda."

"I'd be Fiyero."

"Well, maybe that would be worth me playing Elphaba instead," Kurt said, "except I don't think you're tall enough. You might have to shoot for Boq."

"Or Chistery! I like to climb things, after all," Kurt laughed, because Blaine was being so endearing. He liked to _climb things_ and he sounded so damn happy to feel that way. "Wait, why is my height an issue when your gender isn't?"

"I was only kidding, B."

"B? Is that a thing now?" Blaine asked.

"Unless you hate it," Kurt said quickly. He really liked having little nicknames like that for people, and he hadn't even really thought about it before he said it. It had just sort of happened.

Blaine thought for a moment. "You can call me B. It's not Squirt or Blainey, so I'm okay with it."

"How about _Rent_? Who would you be then?" Kurt asked, pulling their conversation back to the previous topic.

"I've always wanted to be Mimi. You know, for _Out Tonight_ , mostly. I'm guessing you would go with Maureen for Idina?"

"Idina really does have a special place in my heart," Kurt mused, "but I think Angel is my favourite. For _I'll Cover You_."

"Let's make a deal right now," Blaine offered, "We'll sing _I'll Cover You_ , so long as we also sing _As Long As You're Mine_."

"You think I wouldn't agree to singing duets with you? You could have suggested that we sing the Goofy Goober Song together and I would have agreed to your deal."

"We can totally do that sometime too, Kurt!" Blaine said with genuine enthusiasm. Kurt wasn't sure why he ever thought Blaine wouldn't go for that.

They stayed chatting right up until Blaine realised he should be driving home to make it back before his curfew, and both of them hesitated as Blaine packed up the blankets. It was much colder without the close proximity and body heat, as they found when Blaine walked Kurt to the door. "Can I kiss you goodnight now, Kurt?" Blaine asked shyly, and Kurt nodded. Blaine put his hands on Kurt's hips as he leaned up to kiss him gently. Shocks ran through Kurt, a feeling that he couldn't get enough of, telling him that there would never be a time in his life when he didn't want to kiss Blaine Anderson.

"Are you always going to ask if it's okay to kiss me?"

"I just want to make sure that you're comf-" Kurt cut him off with a forceful kiss, and it certainly seemed to work. They lingered on the doorstep for far too long, neither one wanting to be the first to pull away.

Kurt had barely gotten inside when his phone buzzed.

**Blaine A.** _Good night, Kurt B)_


	12. Young Love

**Kurt Hummel** _is in a relationship with_ **Blaine Anderson**.

Kurt had looked at the Facebook life event so many times in the last few days, still trying to get the idea to settle. He had never had a boyfriend in his life, but the title fitted Blaine so easily. It was weird to think that things were different between them, but it was such a good kind of different that it made Kurt smile when he had little thoughts about it in class. All of the fundamental basis to their immediate friendship was still there, but now they were allowed to kiss one another within social acceptability just about whenever they liked.

**Blaine A.** _Good afternoon, boyfriend. Will I be seeing you at the LARP this fine evening?_

Kurt read the text and grinned down at his phone, quickly tapping out his response. Rachel glared at him from across the choir room. Why Kurt always texted Blaine during glee, he wasn't sure. But it always made the hour or so feel better.

**Kurt H.** _Hey, boyfriend. I will indeed be there. Save some Nightarcy cuddles for me :3_

"Does anyone have anything they want to talk about?" Mister Schuester asked. He clearly meant that about the theme for the week, but the glee club had other plans.

"How about how Kurt has a boyfriend now?" Santana piped up. Everyone in the room turned to look at Kurt with varying degrees of surprise. Most of them would have seen it on Facebook days ago, Kurt knew, but it was as though it being put into spoken words changed everything. Tina and Mercedes were beaming, Finn looked uncomfortable, Puck seemed oddly proud. Mister Schuester practically choked on his breath.

"Kurt, I'd just like to remind you of the complete disaster that came from me dating Jesse St. James. Dating the leader of a rival glee club may seem like a very romantic Romeo and Juliet gesture, but it can only lead to being harmful for everyone involved! Even those of us who aren't involved will be affected by your eventual break up!" Rachel said.

"Who said we were going to break up?" Kurt replied defensively, "We only started dating on New Year's."

"Facebook says it was Sunday morning," Tina piped up. Kurt and Rachel both narrowed their eyes at her and she cowered back. There was no denying the power of their joint bitch glare, despite them glaring for such different reasons.

"Guys, can we discuss Kurt's new boyfriend later?" Mister Schuester said, "If any of you were paying attention, I just wrote a theme up on the board-" Kurt glanced over to see that the word _SECRETS_ had indeed been written up.

"Are you just jealous because Kurt is getting more than you?" Santana quipped, "His shiny hobbit boyfriend has a great ass."

"It's fine, we don't even need to talk about this."

"Thank you, Kurt," Mister Schuester said somewhat uncomfortably, having let Santana throw him off his game. "So this week…" Kurt ultimately tuned out then, turning his attention back to his phone and 'shiny hobbit boyfriend'.

**Blaine A.** _Do you think I could save some Blurt cuddles too?_

Kurt grinned. The out of character cuddles were less knew than everything else, but the title made it seem so much bigger.

**Kurt H.** _Is that our portmanteau?_

**Blaine A.** _I don't know, you and Hadley are much better than me at this._

**Kurt H.** _Klaine?_

**Blaine A.** _But then your name gets to go first._ :'(

**Kurt H.** _But look, you have five letters and I only have one!_

**Blaine A.** _Okay, Klaine has won me over._

**Kurt H.** _You mean *I* won you over._

**Blaine A.** _You did that a while ago._

Kurt made an odd noise as he stifled his internal _awwww_. Mercedes gestured at him to show her his phone and he obliged. He trusted Mercedes and she truly was his best friend, and he didn't want to let his new friends or his quickly made best friend turned boyfriend get in the way of that. She wouldn't hassle him about the content, and he wasn't disappointed with her reaction. She smiled at him and whispered, "Could he get any cuter? Really?" Kurt nodded, and she laughed softly.

**Kurt H.** _:3_

**Blaine A.** _B)_

**Kurt H.** _:P_

**Blaine A.** _xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**Blaine A.** _was that too many Xs? We only JUST started dating._

**Kurt H.** _I want all the Xs that you'll give me. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**Blaine A.** _Oh Kurt, you sure know how to charm a guy._

**Kurt H.** _and here I was thinking that YOU were the charmer in this relationship._

**Blaine A.** _because I'm a prep school boy?_

**Kurt H.** _because you're a prep school boy. My dad said you were charming and everything._

Kurt never did find out what it was that Blaine had said to Burt that had made him like him so much, but it didn't take much to guess that it had worked.

**Blaine A.** _I passed the papa Hummel test? :D_

**Kurt H.** _Not yet, you didn't. You have to come over for dinner sometime._

**Blaine A.** _Oh, yikes. I can do tonight after the LARP, if you want?_

**Kurt H.** _Yes! I'll let my parents know :)_

Kurt sent a text to both his dad and Carole to let them know that they would have company. Neither of them seemed to mind in the slightest, as he expected, and Carole thanked him for letting her know far enough in advance so that she could cook for five instead of their usual four.

Glee finally ended, though it seemed to drag on and on. As Kurt was leaving he heard Mister Schuester ask Rachel, "Who's his boyfriend?" Rachel sighed.

"Blaine Anderson, the lead soloist of the Warblers." Kurt glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch Mister Schuester making a face of pure discontent. He had no idea what it was that Mister Schuester had against Blaine and he doubted he would ever find out, but it was hugely entertaining to him nonetheless.

Kurt arrived at Erica and Luke's house so early that the Dalton boys hadn't bothered to change into their costumes yet. He hadn't really noticed that he had gotten out of glee early- maybe Mister Schuester was really that upset about his new relationship- but it was a kind of nice surprise. Marley raced in ahead of him and darted to the bathroom to change into her costume, while Kurt bounced into the living room and sat down next to Blaine. Blaine's face lit up excitedly to see him and it made Kurt want to giggle.

"Hey, you," Blaine said brightly.

"Hi yourself," Kurt replied.

Blaine leaned in really close and whispered, "how do you feel about PDA?" Kurt looked around the group- Nick and Jeff who were wrapped up in one another, and Ethan tapping out some rhythm on his thigh while he talked absently with Erica.

"This isn't really public."

" _Good_ ," Blaine breathed, and leaned in to kiss Kurt. He was perfectly happy to oblige and meet him.

"Well hello, boys," Erica said, "Should we start a slow clap now, or..?"

"We're official now. Didn't you see on Facebook?"

"Of course I saw, but I worried it was like those white girls who insist on calling one another 'wifey'." All of the boys made various faces of dislike. "Yeah, I know, guys. But I'm really happy for you. Glad you got your act together."

"Mm. Me too," Kurt said, snuggling into Blaine's side. Blaine kissed the top of his head. Marley walked into the living room in her full hero costume and looked around.

"Why am I the only one who's ready to LARP?" she asked. The others all sort of shrugged.

"We can be low key today," Erica said, "you know, focus more on relationships in preparation for the upcoming plotter than on the plots. Have sort of a catch up session. You know what, you guys can just get going whenever. The others can just join in when they turn up."

"I'm going to put my costume on," Blaine announced and gently pried Kurt off of him in order to stand up and head for the bathroom. When he returned, a few of the other roleplayers had joined, and Erica encouraged them to go into character. Blaine took Kurt's hand and pulled him upstairs and into the guest room. Blaine kissed Kurt enthusiastically and he didn't hesitate to reciprocate, pulling Blaine close with his arms wrapped around him. He barely registered what was happening until Blaine walked him back against the bed and they flopped down together, Kurt pulling Blaine closer.

"You have a thing for the cape, don't you?" Blaine teased.

"I have a thing for _you_ ," Kurt replied, kissing Blaine hungrily. They flipped over and Kurt had Blaine pinned beneath him against the bed, and it suddenly dawned on him that this was what constituted making out. He was making out with his boyfriend. He trailed his lips down Blaine's neck, nipping beneath his jaw, and Blaine whined.

"We um, we should probably slow down a little," Blaine said as soon as he could form the words. Kurt pulled away. The lines between Kurt and Blaine and Darcy and Nightbird were blurred, but he just couldn't care. They were dating in character too, so why the hell not?

"Uh, sorry."

"No, it's okay, I um, I liked it. I'm just worried we were liking it, uh, too much."

"Oh, right." Kurt felt a little bit flustered all of a sudden and moved off of his boyfriend completely.

"We can keep kissing, you know." Kurt shuffled up against the headboard and Blaine adjusted so that their legs were side by side but he was leaning over Kurt, and gently began to kiss him again.

After the session ended and the group sufficiently hassled them about how they were the disappearing couple of the day ("It's not fair, they date in character and out of character!" Luke had teased when Erica had pointed it out), Blaine changed out of his Nightbird costume and back into his Dalton uniform.

"It's more appropriate dinner attire," he rationalised. They drove in their separate cars to Kurt's house, and then met outside before heading in.

"Ready?" Kurt asked. Blaine nodded. "Just one thing…" Kurt lifted his hand to smooth down a few of Blaine's curls that had sprung free. Blaine blushed softly, probably thinking about the events that had led to his hair getting messed up anyway.

They walked hand in hand to the door and then straight inside. Carole and Burt were hovering just inside the doorway, obviously anticipating their arrival. "Hi," Kurt said, "thanks for letting Blaine come over for dinner."

"Oh, it's no trouble, darling. I'm Carole," she introduced herself. Blaine extended a hand to her and she shook it.

"I'm Blaine," he replied, then offering his hand to Burt, "It's good to see you again, sir."

"You too, kid."

"Do you need a hand with anything?" Blaine asked, looking between his boyfriend's parents. Carole looked pleasantly surprised.

"No, but thank you, honey. We'll come and get you when dinner's ready." Kurt nodded towards the stairs, which Blaine immediately took as a cue to follow him, and they headed up the stairs together.

"Door open!" Burt called after them, and Kurt ignored it.

"You've been in my room before," Kurt said as they sat down on the bed beside one another, "this isn't some grand moment. You're not automatically learning new things about me by being here."

"I don't need a grand moment." Blaine said. He swung his legs gently, and oh, it was precious. He couldn't quite reach the floor from where he was sitting on the bed. Kurt thought that if he scooted forward to the edge a bit further he would reach, but as it was his legs were hanging.

"What do you want to do now?"

"Well…" Blaine leaned forward and kissed Kurt softly. "Okay, I'm satisfied. What do _you_ want to do? It's your house."

"And you're the guest." Kurt stood up from the bed and walked across to his desk, where he hit play on his docked iPod. His playlist began to play softly, creating background buzz. He rolled his eyes as he sat back down. "How are you, Blaine?" Kurt said, realising they had barely talked normally all day.

"I'm well," Blaine said, "we're working on some new arrangements for the Warblers at the moment, and that's going quite nicely. We're experimenting with some Broadway stuff to contrast against the pop."

"Oh, what Broadway stuff?"

"Well, I'm a solid supporter of _Seasons of Love_ , but the others don't think it suits all male groups well enough. It's a shame we don't have a dashing young countertenor to hit the high notes for us."

"Oh, stop," Kurt said, waving his hand. Blaine was all but batting his eyelashes at him. "You just really love _Rent_."

"I do really love _Rent_. I do have a soft spot where dashing young countertenors are concerned, too." Blaine got to his feet and extended a hand to Kurt who didn't hesitate to accept it, pulling him close as they began to dance flirtatiously around Kurt's small bedroom. All too perfectly, the song switched over to _I'll Cover You_ , one of the songs that they had promised to duet together.

"I'd sing," Kurt said quietly, "but I'm not convinced that my dad wouldn't stand outside the door to applaud at the end."

"He's your biggest fan, huh?" Kurt nodded. Burt would always be the head of the hypothetical Kurt Hummel Fan Association, but if the way things had gone in the last few weeks were any indication, Blaine would be giving Burt a run for his money one day. "We have all the time in the world for singing. Let's just let this be as it is for now," Blaine said. The hushed voices between them made Kurt feel as though they were wrapped up in their own little world. They weren't Angel and Collins, and they weren't Nightbird and Darcy. They were Kurt and Blaine, and Kurt had never been happier to be himself. With Blaine, he never felt like he had to pretend.

The song ended and blended into another, and Kurt slowly lost track of how many songs had passed as he stood with Blaine's arms around him. Blaine's lips brushed against Kurt's jaw and he tilted his head slightly to give him better access, sighing happily at the feeling. When their lips finally met, it felt like it had been an eternity rather than a handful of minutes that had passed since they had last connected.

Kurt doubted he would ever be able to return to a world where kissing his boyfriend wasn't an option.

"Mom sent me to tell you that- woah," Finn said at the door of the bedroom. The boys sprung apart, and Kurt quickly hopped across the room to silence the music. "To tell you to wash up because dinner will be in three minutes."

"Thank you, Finn," Kurt said, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Finn meant well, but he had zero subtlety and he had a tendency to infuriate Kurt with the smallest gestures. They hadn't been family for long, but it was hard to tell when you looked at the pair at home that it was the case. They argued as much as any family would expect, always over the tiniest details.

"Sorry," Blaine said, smiling shyly at Kurt as Finn hurried away, the audible _"No, they weren't making out, they were like, dancing, or whatever,"_ in Finn's voice downstairs making them giggle, "It's just hard _not_ to when you're all… you know…"

Kurt smiled. "Not really, but I appreciate the thought." They went downstairs together and sat beside one another at the remaining two places that were set at the table. Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand supportively underneath the table as they began to eat.

"So, Blaine," Burt started, "Kurt tells me that you go to Dalton. Is that a good school?"

"Yes, sir. I transferred at the end of my first year of high school after getting into a situation at the public school, and I'm really happy there," Blaine answered.

"Situation?" Burt sounded sceptical, "it's not a reform school, right?"

"Oh! No, it's a prep school. It wasn't that kind of a situation, Mister Hummel. I transferred for their zero tolerance bullying policy, actually."

"Oh. Are the extracurricular activities any good?" Burt continued to make polite chat with Blaine, along with the three others occasionally contributing. After Blaine's initial mention of the bullying, he didn't push the topic any further. He just knew how it was between Kurt and Blaine, how hugely important the boy was for his son. Kurt was grateful- gay bashing was hardly a 'first dinner with the parents' kind of table topic. His face value acceptance of Blaine's appreciation for the policy was enough for Burt.

Blaine seemed to impress Burt in all aspects, from his academics, to his sporting knowledge, to his glee club, to his manners and kindness. When Blaine called him 'sir' right as they finished their meals, Burt told him to call him by his first name- and Kurt knew that was the sign of true approval from him.

"Can I help with the dishes?" Blaine offered, looking between Burt and Carole.

"Oh no, honey, you're the guest," Carole insisted, "besides, you really should be getting home, it's quite the drive from here. But thank you, I'm not used to having offers from these boys." She looked deliberately at Finn, who shuffled his cutlery around on the plate and avoided eye contact. Kurt rolled his eyes at Finn but made no effort to volunteer himself.

"You're right," Blaine agreed. After some shuffling around as they stacked dishes in the kitchen, everyone walked Blaine to the door. Kurt couldn't believe they were treating his boyfriend like a shiny new toy- that was meant to be his job, wasn't it?

"Thank you for dinner," Blaine said, hugging Carole again, "And you, Burt. It was good to talk with you again."

"You too, kid. You're a good guy." Finn fist bumped Blaine as he said goodbye and ducked away as their parents glared at the couple.

"I'm going to walk Blaine out to his car," Kurt announced, wanting the chance to kiss him goodnight but not wanting to do it in front of his parents. Burt seemed to understand that perfectly, and though Carole took the hint and pulled him into the living room, Kurt knew that Burt was less than happy at the idea.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Kurt," Blaine said, "it was great. I like your family."

"I like them too."

"I should be going." Kurt didn't miss the hopeful hinting in Blaine's voice, and Kurt glanced back towards the house (he could have sworn he saw the curtains moving) before he allowed himself to slide his arms around his boyfriend's neck and kiss him.

"Good night, Blaine," he said slightly breathlessly as they broke apart.

"Night, Kurt. I'll text you tomorrow."

"Tonight? Let me know that you get home safe," he said, adjusting Blaine's lapel and tie just so.

"Okay, I'll do that." Blaine pecked him on the cheek quickly before he climbed into his car. Kurt returned to the doorstep of the house and stayed there until Blaine was out of sight down the street.

When Kurt returned to the house, Burt smiled at him firmly. "He's good for you, you know," he said, "He makes you happy."

"So happy."

"You deserve that happiness. And you know, I think you're good for him too." And there was nothing more that Kurt could hope for in their early relationship.


	13. Love Songs

"Bring on the monthly plotting session!" Erica said, "You know, I love it when we get to do this. When I stand up here and look around the room and you're all here without all the glitz and glam," Marley glared at Erica, "but you're also here with the purpose of playing. It's good." Blaine held his hand out to Kurt, and he took it happily. "So today we're going to cover some big items. We'll start on the regular details, checking up on relationships and plots and stuff."

As the plotter went on everything was going exceptionally smoothly. All the relationships had progressed exactly how they had been expected to at the last plotter (beside "Nightbird/Darcy" on the whiteboard "romantically involved" had been crossed out, "old and married" had been written and crossed out, and "boyfriends" had been written) and the plots that people had brought up had played out appropriately.

"So, Luke and I have been thinking that it might be time to move on from the LARP," Erica said. Kurt looked around the room to find the faces of all the players completely fallen.

"No!" Blaine said, letting go of Kurt's hand in the process. Kurt shuffled his chair closer to Blaine's so he could wrap his arms around him supportively.

"Are you okay, Blaine?" Erica asked. The boy looked like he was about to cry at the thought. Erica raced across the room and kneeled in front of him. "Hey, honey, don't worry." She rubbed his arms comfortingly, Kurt and her working in tandem as best as they could to prevent Blaine from crying.

"You can't leave us," Blaine said softly, "We- I- need this. I don't know what I'm meant to do without you guys."

"Is it just because you're getting married?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, you two weren't meant to get old and boring," Nick added.

"Absolutely not. We just think that you guys are pretty much self-sufficient. We could open a new leg of the same story and have combined sessions without stifling your creativity. You could have all the drug rings you wanted and we would be able to introduce a whole bunch of new people to LARP," Luke explained.

"So you got bored of us?" Marley said brokenly. She sounded as upset as Blaine did, though she was much more reserved in expressing her emotions. Unique was comforting her best friend too.

"Okay, guys, calm down, all of you," Erica said, reclaiming her position at the front of the room, "clearly now isn't the time for us to expand. We didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. Would you mind if we kept this on the monthly agenda for reassessment? Because currently, we're not going anywhere." There were enough mumbled affirmative responses for Luke to note it down, and Erica continued with the plotter. Kurt didn't really pay attention, only responding when he was talked to directly, focussing on monitoring his boyfriend and his reactions.

As the session disbanded, Kurt and Blaine left quite promptly. Blaine was obviously still upset, so whatever it was that it had stirred up in him, Kurt knew to make it right for him and that the best way to do that with Blaine was to follow his lead. Seeing that Blaine kept glancing towards the door and not saying anything, Kurt asked him if he wanted to go, and with Blaine's wordless nod, they both headed out to Kurt's Navigator. Blaine had left his car parked at Kurt's house after being there all afternoon, so it was only logical for them to leave together.

"Are you alright, B?" Kurt asked after they had been driving for a couple of minutes. Blaine, clearly knowing that he was being quiet and difficult, sighed softly.

"I'm fine. I just can't imagine my life without them, you know? They kind of saved my life."

"What do you mean?" Kurt wanted to drive slower so that Blaine couldn't leave him and have to keep talking, or a whole lot faster so that he could hug him already.

"You know I go to weekly counselling sessions, right?" Kurt nodded, "well, I have a few issues."

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't feel ready to tell me," Kurt assured.

"I know. Thank you for that, Kurt. But I want to tell you, I'm just not sure where to start." Blaine took a deep breath and seemed to think carefully for a few moments, as though carefully selecting the right words to use. "So there are a couple of things that you know already. Like, you know that I was hospitalised after a particularly awful school dance, and that I have a lot of pressure from my parents to excel." Kurt nodded, knowing all of that already. He wasn't sure exactly how that corresponded to the LARP and a superhero costume. "I met Luke and Erica through my dad, actually. Luke was at an audition for one of my dad's shows and he had all these cool Marvel pins on his bag, and we got talking while he was waiting. He didn't get the part, but he told me that if I was interested in superheroes then we should talk more. He told me about his girlfriend and her idea to start a Live Action Role Playing group, which naturally I had never heard of before- and bit by bit the group started up. I brought Nick and Jeff along, and slowly we grew to the current size. But back then, I actually felt quite similarly to how you did, or still do, maybe. I had just started at a new school, had to make all new friends, had zero support from my family, I was in a dark, anxious place from all the bullying I had only just fled. I couldn't sleep at night because I was so terrified of the guys coming after me, Kurt. But when I was Nightbird, Blaine didn't matter. It was playing pretend." Kurt knew that feeling well. "Luke and Erica are like my family. They've helped me through a lot. I was never suicidal, Kurt, don't even think that- but I would be lying if I said that I'd never thought about it."

Kurt pulled into the driveway and Blaine unbuckled his seatbelt and almost immediately went to leave the car. "Hey, wait a moment, silly," Kurt said. Blaine closed the door again and waited for Kurt to continue. "Thank you for telling me all that, B." Blaine leaned across far enough to kiss Kurt softly, a silent _no, thank you_.

"Come to my counselling session with me," Blaine said, "this week. Come with me."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Please? I think it will be really good for both of us."

"Okay, okay. You've worn me down. But at least come inside and say goodbye to my dad before you run off home, okay? Otherwise he'll be on my back all night about how I never let him see you." Blaine laughed and got out of the car then, letting Kurt take his hand as they walked to the house together. Blaine ended up staying long enough to watch _The Little Mermaid_ before he left, and sure enough, Burt was glad to have seen him again before he drove home.

* * *

" _Kurt, I have a problem,"_ Blaine said to him on the phone on Tuesday, the only night that week they were planning on not seeing one another.

"A serious enough problem for this to not wait until I see you tomorrow?" Kurt confirmed teasingly. Blaine didn't sound especially exasperated, but he wasn't sure quite why that was. Blaine could be oddly calm about a lot of things.

" _Oh, you're right,"_ Blaine said, _"I'll just wait until tomorrow then. Nice talking to you!"_

"Hey!" Kurt said, "No fair! You got me all curious!"

" _I know. You want to know right this second, don't you?"_

"Yes, Blaine. Please, do tell me about this problem you're having." He sat down on his bed and got comfortable, not sure exactly how long he would be listening to Blaine. He could be a drama queen sometimes and these kinds of phone conversations always took the longest, no matter which of them was having the problems.

" _There's an annual Special Snowflake dance at my school this time of year, and I have to go to it."_

"Why is this a problem?"

" _Because usually I get to avoid all dances because I'm single."_

"But you aren't single," Kurt said, "what am I, a sack of potatoes?" Blaine laughed.

" _Exactly my problem. The dance is kind of a big deal because it doubles as the winter dance and the Valentine's Day dance, and all the Crawford Country Day girls come along. It's sort of a big day in the Dalton flirtation calendar."_

"Are you hoping to get a _girlfriend_ , Blaine Warbler?" Kurt teased, "You know how flirty you can be."

" _Might I mention that you look stunning today, Kurt?"_ Blaine joked, laying on the flirtatiousness in his voice as heavily as he could. It didn't stop Kurt from giggling like a thirteen year old girl.

"We're on the phone, B."

" _I see your outfit of the day tweets. I know for a fact that you look stunning."_

"Thank you, honey. Now, why is this dance such a problem?"

" _Kurt, can you come to the dance with me? I need your help warding off flirtatious Crawford girls."_ Blaine said desperately.

"Are you even allowed to bring dates from other schools?" Kurt asked.

" _Yes! I triple checked. The Crawford girls_ scare _me, Kurt. Some of them are lovely at the debating tournaments and stuff, but at the dances they're just handsy. Help me? Please?"_ Kurt could imagine the puppy eyes that Blaine was making.

"Ask me again without threatening handsy girls."

" _Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, will you be my Special Snowflake this year?"_

"Absolutely, Blaine." Blaine practically squealed happily.

" _Great! I'll get the tickets from Wes tomorrow. It's this Friday, by the way,"_ he said, rambling quickly.

"Such short notice! I suppose you expect me to just whip out a semiformal outfit on demand."

" _Indeed I do. I've seen your wardrobe."_

"You know me so well. I'll know exactly what I'm wearing by tomorrow," Kurt promised.

" _Take pictures and show me at the LARP. Thanks, baby."_ His heart did a little leap at the pet name. The closest thing to a nickname that Kurt called him was 'B', and that wasn't really a pet name, as such. He liked it, though. 'Baby' sounded nice when it came from Blaine.

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow." They hung up and soon enough, Kurt had chosen exactly the right outfit for the dance. He couldn't wait to see his boyfriend's reaction.

* * *

Kurt wore his tightest jeans on Thursday after Blaine's reaction to his photos of his outfit for the dance the day before. His jaw had literally dropped when he had shown him the pictures and Kurt had found his face being covered in kisses. He knew that dressing up to impress his boyfriend probably wasn't the appropriate attire for a counselling appointment, but he couldn't actually care less.

He crossed and uncrossed his legs a few times impatiently in the waiting room at Blaine's counsellor's office. It was a nice building and the furniture didn't make Kurt cringe with typical waiting room disarray, and he felt himself actually looking forward to the appointment.

"My counsellor is called Scott," Blaine said quietly as they waited, "he's nice. You'll like him." Kurt nodded, letting Blaine squeeze his hand gently. When a man who was probably only in his early thirties stepped out of the office, Kurt was surprised. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but Scott immediately seemed like a good fit for Blaine. When Scott nodded towards them Kurt hopped up first, pulling Blaine behind for just long enough for him to catch Blaine checking out his butt.

"Hey Blaine, it's good to see you," Scott said, fist bumping him as he entered the small office, "this must be Kurt." He extended his hand for Kurt to shake, which he did so.

"That's me," Kurt replied, "it's nice to meet you."

"You too. How are things this week, Blaine?"

"Pretty good, actually. The Warblers are performing tomorrow night at a school dance, which I wasn't especially looking forward to until this one promised to go with me," Blaine said.

"Dances are still a bit of a tough topic for you, huh?" Scott asked. Kurt liked that he didn't just assume that was what Blaine was suggesting, instead making him confirm it. That was his job though, wasn't it? To get Blaine to talk about his issues.

"It wasn't that, so much, but yeah, I don't have the greatest memories associated with dances. Dalton ones are a lot nicer than the ones at my old school, though. I was mostly worried that I had to go to a dance and sing love songs and then have half a dozen Crawford girls hitting on me while I assure them I'm gay and they don't stop because I _seem_ straight enough." Scott laughed.

"Is Kurt going with you now?"

"I am," Kurt said, "he only had to ask."

"He's not the best at romance though, is he? I bet he didn't even ask you in person. An e-card, perhaps?"

"I'm right here!" Blaine said.

"It was a phone call," Kurt said. Scott laughed again, mumbling about how he knew it.

"Phone calls don't have dancing puppies though, huh, Blaine?" Scott teased. Blaine glared at him in a way that Kurt figured was him trying to look threatening, but that didn't really turn out that way. "How are your parents going with you having a boyfriend?" Scott asked Blaine.

"Not any different than if I had a girlfriend, if that's what you mean. My dad just thinks that any romantic relationships are going to detract from my studies and my talent and all that. My mom would prefer he was a girl, but she's nice enough about it."

"Have you met them yet, Kurt?"

"Nope. I'm okay with that, though," Kurt said, "I feel like it needs to be a left a little longer before I meet them."

"Do you want to meet them?" Blaine asked.

"Do you want me to meet them?"

"Eventually, yeah. I think you're right, though. We'll save it a little bit. When Cooper is visiting in a couple of weeks you can meet him. He's the attractive sibling."

"You mean to tell me that you _aren't_ the attractive Anderson?"

"Um, yeah. Can we not talk about that right now? Cooper gives me a few self-esteem problems." Scott noted that down on a piece of paper. Kurt had forgotten that monitoring the conversation was actually what he was paid for, not just to chat with Blaine weekly.

The rest of the session went similarly, with Scott not bringing anything new up, instead encouraging Blaine to just talk freely himself and occasionally asking questions. As their time drew to a close, Scott asked Kurt how things were going with him at school.

"Better in terms of the bullying and stuff? Academically it's no better or worse than usual," Kurt answered.

"You don't mind that I've mentioned the bullying to Scott, do you?" Blaine asked worriedly. Kurt shook his head. "Good. He gave me some advice about how to deal with this all. It's really different being a third party in the bullying."

"It was good to see you both, but I do have other people to get to today, and your session is about up," Scott said standing up to walk them out, "have fun at the dance. And Blaine? Dalton is safe zone. You won't be the only one with a boyfriend there, not by a long shot."

"I know. Thanks, man."

"You're welcome. I'll see you next week. Bye, Kurt, it was good to meet you."

"You too," Kurt said, and Blaine retook Kurt's hand as they walked out to Blaine's car. When they were inside and Blaine had started the car up, Kurt asked, "Aren't you meant to have piano and singing lessons today?"

"Um, yes. I texted my tutors and told them I'm not feeling very well today and that I need to rest up for my performance tomorrow."

"All so you could hang out with me?" Kurt said, "I'm touched."

"You had to drive over from Lima for that half an hour, I was going to spend a little more time with you." He said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kurt didn't want to even ask what would happen with his dad as a result of that decision.

"And I appreciate that."

"Enough to kiss me?"

"Not while you're driving. Let's just get back to your place in one piece first." Blaine pouted for the rest of the car ride until Kurt did finally kiss him when they arrived.

* * *

The next night Kurt got ready for the dance as soon as he got home and in record time he was in the car on the drive to Westerville. With the timing of the dance not totally clear to anyone involved, Kurt had arranged to stay the night at Jeff's house- both Blaine's and Kurt's parents were more comfortable with that arrangement than with Kurt staying the night at Blaine's house. When he pulled up in the Anderson's spacious carport and climbed out of the car Blaine ran towards him in sweatpants and a Dalton hoodie, throwing his arms around Kurt.

"Hey, B," Kurt said, eventually prying his boyfriend off him, "excited about something?"

"I'm just happy to see you. Come inside, it's freezing out here." Blaine kept one arm around Kurt's waist as they walked into the house. "You look gorgeous, by the way. Sorry about not being ready, I just got out of the shower."

"That explains the curls," Kurt said, running his hand through Blaine's hair.

"Oh! I'll look all gelled and dapper in like, thirty minutes, promise. Do you wanna come up to my room with me, or just entertain yourself down here, or..?"

"We can't make out, I can't crinkle this shirt," Kurt said, "I'll just stay down here. You go get ready." Blaine nodded and ran up the stairs, blowing Kurt a kiss from the top before he disappeared into his room. Kurt sat down in the living room and turned on the TV, flicking through until he found something entertaining enough for him to watch.

Soon enough Blaine appeared in the living room perfectly groomed in a classy suit with his Dalton tie and his hair neatly gelled. He was fastening a Warbler pin to his lapel as he sat down next to Kurt on the couch. "Do you not own any other ties?" Kurt teased.

"Oh, we just have to wear them when we're performing. It's really lame, I know. But the Warblers are like rockstars, and they need to differentiate us as such somehow," Blaine explained.

"And these nice little broaches aren't enough?"

"Apparently not. Oh! I have something to give you." Blaine went to the kitchen for a moment and returned with two sticky labels in snowflake shapes. "This is really lame, but it's a Special Snowflake dance tradition. They cut out all these pairs of snowflakes- you know how no two are the same? Well, they cut two identical ones, and each half of the pair takes and wears one." Blaine handed one to Kurt, who happily stuck it onto the lapel of his waistcoat.

"It's quite a cute tradition. I don't think it's lame at all," Kurt assured.

"They don't have this sort of cheesy stuff at McKinley? No Valentine's Day dance?" Blaine asked with genuine surprise.

"Nope, just my brother setting up a kissing booth."

"People are into that?" Blaine said, wrinkling up his nose. Kurt thought it was adorable how Blaine couldn't even comprehend why you want to just kiss people because they paid for it.

"Hey, I wanted to kiss him once," Kurt said. Blaine wrinkled his noise up again.

"He's your brother, Kurt."

"Only because I set our parents up with one another so I could spend more time with him. I don't want to kiss him _now_. I don't know why people want to spend their precious dollars to kiss him, either."

"He's the football star, isn't he? That's probably why."

"I guess. It's not like he's even the most attractive guy at McKinley," Kurt said.

"Because that's you, right?" Kurt laughed.

"Exactly! Aren't you glad you don't have to pay to kiss me?" Blaine didn't even agree, rather kissing him right away as if to exercise his rights.

Blaine handed over the tickets to the dance as they walked into the ballroom. Kurt still couldn't quite grasp that they didn't have their dances in the gym like public high schools did, that Dalton even had a ballroom to host their dances. Kurt kept hold of Blaine's arm as they walked over to a gathering by the stage of the Warblers, ready to perform. They all greeted him enthusiastically, and by extension greeted Kurt with equal passion. Kurt found Nick and Jeff while Blaine was being teased by some of the others about how they had doubted his boyfriend really existed.

When the Warblers finally went on stage, Kurt hung around with Ethan and Jaz. Ethan was wearing a snowflake (suggesting that Leo was around the dance somewhere), but Jaz didn't. He figured that Jaz must go to Crawford Country Day to get her invite to the dance.

The Warblers stood in formation and began their set list of love songs, since it was a semi-Valentine's Day dance. They opened with _Teenage Dream_ , a song that Kurt had heard Blaine sing plenty of times in one of their bedrooms or when they were in the car, but that he had never heard with the a cappella arrangement. They segued into _Silly Love Songs_ , and then into Taylor Swift's _Love Story_. There were no really grand surprises in the list, with Blaine singing every word to Kurt, making the maximum amount of eye contact he could with his boyfriend.

Towards the end of their set, the Warblers began the arrangement for a song that Kurt had heard only once before at Jeff's house, though the a cappella made the song sound totally different to the normal, electronic track.

"This song is for my hero," Blaine said before they started the song, smiling down at Kurt. _"To the left, to the right, I can feel them all around; out to get you and I and to try and break us down; they will come with the strength and the fire and the numb beat of drums and the song of the sirens in our ears, and then we'll bring them all to tears dear,"_ Blaine sang. Ethan nudged Kurt playfully having been similarly subjected to the song in the past. Jaz didn't seem so surprised. Kurt was still reeling from Blaine calling him his hero, when to him it had been so solidly the other way around. _"Yes I will fight for you, you and me against the world is nothing new, now and forever true, if you'll be mine, then I will fight for you."_

" _So we stand back to back and we smile as they come, 'cause they planned their attack knowing we've already won; save the girl and the world will be jealous wouldn't you, if you knew that the truth was the girl would save you too? And there's nothing they can do to you,"_ Blaine looked at Kurt meaningfully as they launched into the bridge and chorus again, wrapping up the song. Because Kurt got it then- with Blaine helping him, he was helping himself. They had made each other stronger in the short month they had been dating and the two or so before that they had been friends.

The Warblers wrapped up their set with an energised version of _The Power of Love_ , and then they all stepped down off the stage. Kurt, usually one to be against public affection beyond hand holding, didn't even hesitate to launch himself at Blaine and kiss him. Blaine, clearly surprised, reciprocated happily. "Thank you," Kurt whispered, and Blaine didn't even need to ask why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: the song that the Warblers sing (that isn't just mentioned in passing) is Fight For You by I Fight Dragons. It's definitely worth a listen, though I think the a cappella arrangement must sound totally different to the commercial track!


	14. Couple Things

"Get off me!" Kurt shrieked through his laughter, kicking his legs as he squirmed around but continuing to miss his boyfriend. Blaine didn't give up tickling him, even as Kurt emphasised that all his clothes wouldn't cope with grass stains.

The LARP had begun to bounce between Luke and Erica's house and the park as the weather slowly but surely improved with spring's arrival. It was a fortunate day where the weather was on an upswing, and so Kurt was rolling around on the grass at the mercy of his boyfriend, on one of those days where their in character relationship and out of character relationship blurred.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Kurt cried, "I give up! _You_ are the sexiest man in all of Dreamweaver, not me. I said it, you can get off me now."

"Damn right I am," Blaine said, "though you are a close second. And you know, I don't think I _want_ get off you, Darcy." Blaine leaned forward enough to kiss Kurt gently before moving off him properly, allowing Kurt to sit up beside him. He dusted down his clothes and Blaine smiled at him sweetly. "May I escort you on a walk around the park?" Blaine offered, extending a hand to Kurt to help him to his feet. Kurt took it, and only switched which hand he was holding as they started walking. "So, Darcy, I heard about your big promotion."

"You did?" Kurt said grinning, "I didn't know I was so famous."

"Yeah, it turns out you are. You're throwing the whole power balance in this relationship off, you know. You're going to have to…" Kurt stopped walking as he saw an all too familiar flash of red in the distance. "Darcy?" Blaine asked worriedly.

"Um, I'm fine. You uh, you don't happen to think that Dreamweaver could come under attack, do you?" Kurt asked. He nodded towards where the pair of McKinley letterman jackets were, and Blaine managed to tell. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't freaking out at the sight of the jocks when the roleplay was meant to be his safe space. From the look on Blaine's face, he was freaking out a little bit too. It was times like this that Kurt was most thankful for him, when he actually felt like he wasn't completely isolated. He trusted that Blaine would know what to do.

"Oh. Well, I don't know. I hope not. But this is why we have the defenders. Speaking of whom, I'm going to go and chat with White Wings, okay? Hey look, it's Unique! Why don't you hang with her for a bit?" Blaine darted off before Kurt could even process that they weren't holding hands anymore. He took a deep breath, only shaking a little bit, and put on his bravest face.

"Are you okay, sugar?" Unique asked, "You look like you just saw a ghost. Where's the hero boy off to?" Kurt cleared his throat. Clearly his brave face wasn't as brave as he remembered.

"Please don't panic, Unique, but we think the town might be under attack very soon," Kurt said. He looked towards the McKinley boys, and the worst possible outcome occurred- one of the two was no other than David Karofsky. He shouldn't have looked back over at them, it had only made him feel worse.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Just stick with me, please? When Nightbird gets back then we'll be safe," Kurt said. If he said it enough then he might believe it himself. Unique nodded. Blaine came running back over to them not too long later, looking like he had a plan of action. He took a moment before he started to look at Kurt adoringly but cautiously.

"White Wings and JetCat are calling a village council. Come with me." Blaine took Kurt's hand, not even giving Kurt time to process what was happening. He got so good at concentrating on not being thrown around in the hallways that he tuned out everything happening around him, and Karofsky was an obvious trigger in this action. He had never been more thankful that the others knew that, that they had picked up on the scenario and were running with it, without even dropping character.

"Why are White and Jet working together now?" Unique asked. Blaine had an answer without even batting an eyelid.

"Because Jet would prefer that the town was under her wrath, not some outsiders. They've had this flirtation thing for ages, so working together isn't that much of a stretch." The group formed a tight circle, and Luke was the one to take charge. Kurt had gotten so used to relying on Erica's leadership that he sometimes forgot that Luke was the hero of the equation.

"Hello, citizens of Dreamweaver, thank you all for attending this council promptly. It has been brought to our attention that there is an outside threat to Dreamweaver, so we ask you all to bear with us as we try and sort this out. It's only fair that you all know what is going on, and why it is that JetCat and I are working together in this. As the leader of the Defenders of Dreamweaver, I decided that I needed to call in some back up, and-" Blaine cleared his throat, which silenced Luke is his tracks with a glare to the shorter boy.

"Can you speed this up a bit? Can we get to the practical stuff and worry about why it is that JetCat has assembled the villains to work with us later?" he asked.

"Fine. Basically, we want to keep the citizens safe and we also don't want to cut anything short. We want to deal with this as peacefully as possible. JetCat and I will deal with communicating with the potential intruders, but _only_ if they approach the town. We don't want to be the ones to start any fights and we're willing to hear them out." There were nods around the circle, until Luke was satisfied that everyone knew the drill. "You can leave now. Nightbird, a moment?" the circle disbanded and Kurt wanted to stay close to Blaine, to be in his arms where he felt safest, but Erica and Unique quickly shooed him away. Kurt couldn't help but wonder if they were breaking character and didn't want to let Kurt know that. To be fair, he didn't want anyone's experiences to be lessened because of him.

Unique and Kurt sat down on the grass not too far away from the bench that they used, chatting politely but not with much substance as they attempted to maintain some normality in the roleplaying despite the looming presence of Kurt's bullies. He watched as Karofsky walked straight into the centre of the groups that were spaced out before approaching Jeff and Nick's little group. Kurt watched as Jeff signalled to Luke and Erica and they jogged over, leaving Blaine alone. Kurt tried to make eye contact with his boyfriend, but he headed over to Marley instead.

Luke and Erica walked over to the bench with Karofsky and sat down, Kurt's heart pounding at the close proximity. He hadn't received a single glare or nasty comment from the boy, even as he walked past with the two older roleplayers. They each tapped the bench as they sat, though they had informally gone out of character the moment they left Blaine mid-conversation.

"I think we should sunbathe in this good weather," Unique said, although they both knew it wasn't nearly sunny enough for that yet, "because then we can _listen_ to our _surroundings_ and still hang out with one another without needing to talk." That made the idea sound a whole lot better, and Kurt lay down carefully to protect his hair and his clothes. He thanked her quietly and tried his best to listen to what Luke and Erica were saying to Karofsky.

"Over there is Nightbird and Glameow, a hero and a villain respectively," Erica explained, continuing to point out all of the groups. It was similar to the talk she had given him the day he had first watched.

"The plot is just standard hero and villain, if you've read comics and things," Luke said. Kurt hadn't heard Karofsky say anything in the whole conversation.

"There's a lot of emphasis on the relationships," Erica said.

"What does Kurt do?" Karofsky asked. Kurt thought that might have been the first time he had ever heard the boy call him by his name and not a slur. He hated the way it sounded falling from the boy's lips- not because he said it with a sneer, but because it almost sounded caring. Almost as though there had been more than pent up frustration behind the time Karofsky had kissed him.

It was worse than when he thought Karofsky hated him.

"His character Darcy is dating Nightbird. It just sort of comes naturally to them, even if the physicality of their relationship has picked up since Kurt and Blaine started dating," Erica said, "they really spend most of their time together. Right now he's with Unique, but that's almost weird."

"You just _let_ them be gay?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Luke asked, "We actually have a lot of LGBT roleplayers in the group. There's nothing wrong with it." There was an awkward pause in the conversation, probably as Luke and Erica anticipated some slurs or _something_. They obviously hadn't anticipated him being so docile, but neither had Kurt.

"So do you _really_ want to join in? It's quite a big commitment, so if you do a lot of sport it might not necessarily be the best fit for you. There are more casual LARPs though, if you're still interested. But it's really important that this space stays the homophobia free zone that it is. Any infiltration of that policy, in character or not, would have you automatically kicked out. All of our players are sceptical considering the _last_ time you came to visit us ended in physical attack," Erica said. Karofsky sighed.

"Not really, no," he said, "heroes aren't my thing. It seems to be Kurt's thing, though." He sounded almost shy in the observation. Kurt hated that, too. There was no way the boy who had been shoving him into lockers for so long could have any romantic feelings for him. No matter what he had heard his female classmates being told as a child, he knew that boys _shouldn't_ pick on you if they like you, and quite frankly Kurt was more than happy that Blaine wouldn't ever lay a hand on him. Hell, Blaine was hesitant to touch him in positive ways when they had just started dating.

"No need to glare at Blaine, Dave," Luke said, probably trying to be in good humour, which Kurt was pretty sure that Karofsky wouldn't be appreciative of. The fact that a glare towards his boyfriend had been contextualised with a sentence about heroes being Kurt's thing made his stomach flip.

"I just want to apologise to him and it's not like he'll listen at school."

"Have you considered starting by _not_ pushing him into lockers? That might stop him from flinching every time you get near to him," Erica suggested, "look, we need to wrap up the session, okay? We'll be around if you want to talk some more in five minutes or so." Kurt and Unique, having heard the prompt, made their way to the bench and tapped it.

"Thanks for sunbathing with me," Kurt said to Unique, "that was a good idea."

"You're welcome, sugar. Now run along to your boyfriend." She walked away from him then, which did mean that he gravitated towards Blaine. Blaine smiled at him sweetly and reassuringly, but Kurt moved away when he tried to put an arm around him. Blaine didn't put more space between them, but he pouted all the way through Erica and Luke's notices with his arms folded across his chest.

"Will you let me kiss you _now_?" Blaine asked.

"I thought I told you to stop asking," Kurt teased. Blaine leaned in and kissed him, but pulled away quickly when Kurt wasn't very responsive. "I'm sorry," he said, hoping he looked as apologetic as he was, "it's not that I don't want to kiss you, Blaine, it's that I just _can't_ in front of him."

"I understand." The words Blaine used didn't make his upset any less evident.

"I have to talk to Marley quickly," Kurt told him, "but I'll be back over, okay? Then maybe you can come over to my place for a bit before you drive back to Westerville and we can do this couple stuff then." Blaine nodded, no less pouty. Kurt rolled his eyes and walked over to Marley, waiting for a moment for her to finish speaking with Leo before he cut in.

"Hey Kurt!" she said brightly, "Is everything alright with you?"

"I just wanted to ask you the same thing," Kurt said, "This really isn't any worse than I get at school, anyway. There are more jocks for him to impress there." He shrugged, but he knew that Marley knew him and the situation well enough that she would be able to see right through the front.

"Is this because of the time at school when he talked to us together?"

"Mostly, yeah. You've had it worse than they have from him."

"Kurt, you have had the worst of any of us. I understand the Karofsky thing, but Blaine understands all of the bullying better. Luke and Erica know how to handle teenagers much better than any of the rest of us do. I'm not the only person here who understands."

"I think he's just fighting to keep up a het-" Marley cleared her throat loudly and Kurt stopped without finishing his sentence.

"Kurt," the all too familiar voice said behind him. He turned around, clenching and unclenching his hands at his sides as the boy loomed over him intimidatingly.

"Go away," Kurt said firmly.

"What, no hello?" Karofsky said, sounding far too cocky and friendly for Kurt's liking. He saw Blaine slowly approaching from behind the bully, standing to the side for easier access to the scenario without invading Karofsky's view and encouraging him to attack anyone. Kurt appreciated the subtle nod that Blaine sent his way, a small gesture that he was there.

"Leave me alone."

"I just want to apologise, Kurt. You know how hard it is to be… gay…" he started. Something about how he said it made something deep within Kurt snap. The last time he had stood up to Karofsky he had ended up feeling _violated_ , above all else, but he couldn't be submissive any more.

"You aren't the victim here. While I've spent my entire high school life being bullied for being gay, long before I'd ever said anything to anyone about it, you've been lashing out on _me_ , because you can't _stand_ that I'm proud of who I am when you're such a coward. So you know what, Karofsky? I don't want to hear it. Because I _don't_ know what you're going through. And I know just as well as you do that I'll have a handful of new bruises tomorrow, and no apology now is ever going to fix that." Kurt turned and walked towards Blaine, who was smiling with proudness in his eyes. Marley was trying to hide her own grin.

"That was pretty kick-" Blaine said, but was cut off when Kurt grabbed his face and kissed him passionately. Blaine didn't seem to mind that he was fuelled by the anger towards Karofsky when it meant he was getting the kisses that he was so clearly missing from him. "Ass," Blaine completed.

"Take me home," Kurt said, "I'm really angry, but I'm also not doing okay and I'd prefer not to cry in front of him." Blaine's proud smile returned once again.

"Yes, sir," he said all too flirtatiously, letting Kurt drag him towards his car.

* * *

"Guys, can you not?" Finn said uncomfortably as he walked into the living room. Kurt hadn't even known that he was home, and when they had started their making out on the couch half an hour prior no one had seemed to notice. Kurt sighed and climbed off Blaine, pulling his boyfriend into a sitting position so that he could drape his arm around him.

"Please, like I haven't seen you with your tongue down several girls' throats like this."

"That's different!" Kurt rolled his eyes. On some level he actually enjoyed it when they had these arguments. It made them feel like they were actually family.

"Because Blaine is a guy? Our whole dating thing isn't actually that different from yours." _Uneducated,_ Kurt reminded himself, _he's a teenage boy in Ohio, he's just not used to gay people being talked about_.

"No, I uh, I get that, I think. Maybe. But like, I have to compete against this guy at Regionals. I don't want to have to do that, he's my brother's boyfriend," Kurt smiled at Finn's word choice as Finn turned his attention towards Blaine, "It will make me feel bad when we beat him and the sparrows."

"Warblers," Blaine corrected, "I didn't realise you were so competitive, Finn."

"Someone has to keep up with Rachel," Finn rationalised, shrugging it off.

"Do you want to stay and hang out with us?" Blaine offered. Kurt wished he wouldn't always be so friendly and inclusive, but it was one of the qualities he loved most in his boyfriend.

"Uh, no. Thanks anyway, man." Finn backed out of the room, before hurrying back in and grabbing the bowl off the coffee table, taking it with him, "you didn't mention you had chips," he explained, leaving hurriedly before Kurt could get mad at him for it.

Blaine's phone buzzed in his pocket, which was right up against Kurt's leg, making them both jump. After fishing it out of his pocket he held the phone between them so Kurt could read the message too, seeing it was from Nick.

**Nick D.** _Me and Jeff talked to Karofsky. Doesn't seem like he really wants to join after all._

"You know the worst part of all of this?" Kurt asked.

"You didn't get to throw a slushie in his face at the end of your rant?"

"Yes! But no. The worst part is that he actually sounded like he cared about me. And I _hate_ that."

"Do I not sound like a genuinely like you?" Blaine asked, "Is that why you like me?" Kurt shuffled closer to his boyfriend.

"That's different and you know it. I swear, if your idiotic thoughts were less endearing I'd be _so_ annoyed with you about now."

"Is this about when he kissed you?"

"Absolutely. I thought he was doing it because he was trying to figure it all out for himself, like he didn't know if he was really gay- and I was the closest gay boy for him to work with. But after today, when he was actually using my name and not a homophobic slur? It makes me think that there was more to it than me being convenient," Kurt explained.

"So? You're desirable. You should be flattered."

"I don't want to be desirable to guys who want to show you how much you matter to them by making sure your shoulders are permanently black and blue."

"I'm not ever going to hurt you, Kurt," Blaine said, kissing the top of his head lightly.

"Oh, I know. You couldn't even move the spider for me the other day."

"It's just trying to live its life! It was only tiny, too. Poor little Pippin wouldn't have even known about his corner of the sky if I hadn't let him run free."

"In my house!" Kurt exclaimed, "he's probably still in here somewhere!"

"Maybe your house is his corner of the sky!" Blaine said, holding his hands up defensively, "I can't judge his tiny spider life any more than you can."

"You're ridiculous," Kurt said fondly, kissing him gently.

"Oh, I know. But it doesn't seem to bother you a whole lot, so I'm not going to change." Blaine pulled Kurt forward again, kissing him deeper.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Kurt said, the moment he could catch his breath.

"I changed my mind," Finn said from the doorway, this time earning himself eye rolls from both of the boys, "if you two want to, you know, _not_ kiss each other, than I want to hang out with you for a bit. I brought your chips back and everything." Finn placed the mostly consumed bowl of chips back on the coffee table and sat in the armchair, leaving Kurt and Blaine to get comfortable on the couch again. Finn turned on the TV, flicking through until he found a football game to watch.

"No. No no no no no, I am _not_ third-wheeling you two with your little football thing," Kurt said, "I refuse to do it. Be friends on your own time."

"Fine," Finn said, throwing the remote to Kurt, "you pick something." Kurt tapped in the right numbers straight away and turned to MTV. "Really? I don't want to watch about teenage pregnancy. Once was enough for that scare."

"You got a girl pregnant?" Blaine asked.

"No," Finn and Kurt said together, leaving Blaine looking puzzled.

"Quinn told me that you two never even had sex, Finn. Why you were involved in the first place I'll never know," Kurt said.

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Blaine said, "was this your plan? To make _me_ third-wheel your whole brothers thing?"

"I don't think we're ever going to be able to actually all hang out together," Kurt said, "you two will be all manly or whatever, Finn and I will be arguing, Blaine and I will be a couple. One of us is always going to be a third wheel. Finn, you're invited to join us as soon as you have a girlfriend for more than two seconds."

"I'm sorry I interrupted your kissing thing, or whatever," Finn said, clearly wounded by Kurt's girlfriend comment.

"Yes! It was kissing! That's exactly what it was! Why does that surprise you so much?"

"I don't know! You two just don't seem like the kissing type!"

"I should probably get going, anyway," Blaine said, "you can keep arguing without me here…" he stood up and slowly walked towards the door as Kurt jumped up. Kurt pointed a finger accusingly at Finn.

"We'll finish this later," Kurt said. He turned to Blaine and continued, "I'll walk you out."

"I still get goodbye kisses," Blaine said in a sing-song voice. Kurt nodded and pushed him towards the front door, incredibly satisfied by Finn's face that just screamed of his relief that they weren't going to be kissing in front of him anymore.


	15. Expectations

"Come on Blaine. Please? I blackmailed Finn for your invite." Kurt asked for the millionth time, giving his boyfriend his very best puppy dog eyes. Rachel was having a party, and he didn't want to go without Blaine there, not when it was on one of their usual date nights. It wasn't that Kurt even particularly liked Rachel, he just didn't want to miss out with the New Directions. He already felt on the fringes of the group at times, whether or not he was one of the founding members.

"I just don't really know any of them, Kurt. I don't want to intrude or have all of them call you a traitor for bringing a spy in or whatever," Blaine said, "So thank Rachel for the invite and tell her that we're going to stay home instead of going to her party."

"You will _love_ Rachel's house, Blaine. She has two dads, so it's gorgeous."

"Are you even listening to me? I don't want to be the odd one out. Most of them haven't even seen me without my blazer."

"I think you're getting yourself stressed out with the build up to regionals, B. It will do you some good to relax and have fun," Kurt said, trying to put a new turn on things. Something struck a chord with Blaine in that sentence and he sighed.

"I'm not stressed!"

"How many extra vocal lessons did your dad make you take this week in preparation for regionals?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow at Blaine stubbornly. He _knew_ that Blaine was getting stressed.

"Three," Blaine mumbled.

"And that's on top of Warbler practices, and your instrumental lessons, and the LARP, and tutoring Hadley, _and_ seeing me almost every day, when we've been constantly doing homework together. It's okay to be a little bit stressed. When do you have time to relax or _sleep_?"

"Fine, we'll go to your party. Just check again that I'm invited too and not party crashing?" Blaine looked at Kurt worriedly, and Kurt kissed him quickly. He couldn't help himself, Blaine was so damn adorable.

"Sure." He kissed Blaine again before he called Rachel and confirmed that Blaine was invited too, not convinced that Blaine really wanted to go at all. Kurt couldn't help but worry that he was overworking himself, and Blaine could be a social butterfly at the best of times- he thrived on parties. Surely the party would do them both some good.

* * *

Kurt, Finn and Blaine arrived at Rachel's house together and were quickly ushered down to the basement. Much to Kurt's surprise, the party quickly decayed into a drunken mess. He hadn't really anticipated alcohol in the first place and had decided against drinking pretty quickly after he had arrived. Even after dating for a couple of months, he wanted to keep composed around his boyfriend.

Blaine didn't seem to have the same standards.

It was hard to tell whether Blaine usually drank a lot or not at all, for seeing him at that party. Kurt wanted to pin him as a lightweight almost immediately, but maybe he had been sneaking shots when Kurt wasn't looking. He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself though, and after all, wasn't that why he had insisted that Blaine came?

"Rachel has a _stage_ ," Blaine whispered (very loudly) to Kurt, "she's so _cool._ Your glee club friends are so _cool_." Kurt just humoured his boyfriend and accepted the first three kisses that Blaine gave him, though when he began to get a little on the slobbery side he had to gently push him away. Blaine didn't seem to mind and danced happily away, even accepting it when Brittany decided to grind against him.

"It's still weird to me that you two actually kiss and junk," Finn said, sitting down beside Kurt, "I don't think any of my girlfriends have ever kissed me with that much enthusiasm."

"Or drool," Kurt said, wiping his chin again, "you're not missing out, I promise. Aren't you drinking?"

"Nah, I'm the designated driver. Clearly you aren't, either."

"Because I'm worried that I'd either be in Brittany's place right now or I would have punched her or something. I'm still not exactly sure how I act with more than one drink," Kurt said. The first and only time he had been drunk he had thrown up on Miss Pillsbury, and he was not exactly thrilled with the idea of vomiting everywhere again. He needed to keep an eye on Blaine, too. He was worried about his boyfriend and the stress he was putting on himself, to say the least- and maybe he had given Blaine the perfect outlet to handle the stress negatively.

"Fair enough." Rachel chose that moment to come over and sit in Finn's lap, much to his discomfort. Kurt decided to move away before he got roped into any awkwardness, dancing out into the middle of the room. Blaine seemed thrilled to see him and began to dance with him instead of Brittany, a move that Kurt was all too pleased about, especially now it seemed that Blaine was taking a page out of her book, dancing far too sexily and very close to his boyfriend.

"Let's play spin the bottle!" Rachel yelled, and general shouts of agreement sounded throughout the room. A shabby circle was formed and Kurt and Blaine sat next to one another.

"Why do you even want to play?" Kurt asked. Blaine covered his mouth to stifle a giggle.

"The last time I played this game I kissed my boyfriend," Blaine said, in what Kurt thought was his drunken attempt to be quiet but actually ended up quite the contrary.

"We don't have to be playing if you want to kiss your boyfriend," Kurt pointed out. Blaine's eyes widened at him in surprise.

"Oh," he said, but didn't make any further move to pursue that course of action. The group got rowdier as the game progressed, working on the double spin system rather than the double kiss system, by which Santana had somehow taken charge of the bottle. She spun it twice, landing on Brittany and Sam- her boyfriend and her best friend. Kurt wasn't sure exactly how to feel about the pairing himself, but wasn't surprised when Santana wasn't happy.

In all honesty Kurt found the game to be boring, as most of the glee club had dated one another at some point anyway. Exes kissing wasn't anywhere near as much fun as the game had been at Jeff's party. The lack of same gender kisses probably threw him off too, but that was beside the point. The group was too close for any of it to be weird.

The bottle slowed down and almost stopped on Kurt, pointing just a tiny bit to his right. Blaine clapped excitedly about how he had been chosen while Kurt just glared as the bottle spun again, landing on Rachel. Kurt took a deep breath, choosing to see the humour in the situation, as they shuffled into the middle of the circle and ungracefully smashed their faces together.

Eventually the game died down (besides the awkward moment when Kurt and Finn had been spun and subsequently the bottle re-spun, Kurt was only landed on once and made to kiss Tina, which he did so chastely more so because she was giggling so much and less so for the awkwardness), and the party resumed to its previous hype. The group seemed drunk enough to stop seeing Rachel's stage as being dumb and rather a necessary party item, and pair by pair the teenagers sang with surprising clarity.

Rachel dragged Blaine up to the stage and they sang together, and Kurt only really felt jealous when he was giving the intense looks her way instead of his. He had grown so used to being sung to by his boyfriend that he forgot that not all of Blaine's performances were directed his way. As the song ended Blaine nearly stumbled off the stage, and Kurt rushed forward to steady him.

"You have to step down, Blaine," Kurt said. Blaine blinked at his feet for a moment before bursting out in a fit of laughter and almost falling _again_ as he actually stepped off the stage. "Feeling okay?"

"I have _so_ much energy Kurt, oh my goodness! Did you see that song?" Blaine said, bouncing up and down lightly on the balls of his feet.

"I did. Seems like you had fun kissing Rachel," Kurt knew that he shouldn't be getting jealous, especially not when Blaine was so visibly drunk.

"Hmm? Oh! I guess," Blaine scrunched up his nose, " _not_ as much fun as kissing you." Rachel shuffled over and attempted to kiss Blaine again, who awkwardly leaned away.

"We have so much chemistry, Blaine Warbler," Rachel said in a way Kurt figured was her trying to be sexy, "I saw the way you looked at me while we sang." She danced her fingers along Blaine's chest.

" _I_ am an _actor_ ," Blaine announced, before pulling Kurt elsewhere, giving him the standard look that just screamed of _I'm going to put my tongue in your mouth now_. That certainly would shut Rachel up, at least until she sobered up. Kurt was loving every moment now.

* * *

A groan came from somewhere among the pile of blankets on Kurt's bed. Well, at least he knew his boyfriend had survived the night after all the drinking at Rachel's party the night before. He hadn't meant to let Blaine sleep in his bed, but after struggling to get him all the way upstairs he had pretty much passed out curled around Kurt, and he didn't have the heart to wake him. At one point he had tried to struggle out of Blaine's grip to sleep on the couch instead, but Blaine had just adjusted to the movement and cuddled him closer.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked from across the room, "Are you awake?" Another groan answered him, and Kurt giggled affectionately. He heard movement in the hallway and turned to face the door.

"Hey Kurt," Burt said, entering the bedroom and looking towards the pile on his bed. A sleep tousled Blaine sat up and squeezed his eyes shut again.

"Where am I?" Blaine said, before huffing and lying back down again. Burt glared at Kurt, realising that the boy in the bed was obviously not his son. He apologised and shuffled back out of the room, the epitome of awkwardness. Kurt looked between his bed and the door, deciding which issue to deal with first. He settled on the bed.

"Hey, cutie," Kurt said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "How are you feeling?" he let his hand wander to play with Blaine's loose curls. He got a feeling that this wouldn't be something he would have the privilege of doing a whole lot.

"I feel awful," Blaine said, mostly muffled by the pillow.

"I'm going to bring you up some water and Tylenol, okay? You stay put, but try to stay awake." Blaine mumbled some kind of agreement and Kurt slipped from the room, knowing he would find his dad waiting in the kitchen. Sure enough, Burt was there with his arms folded across his chest as Kurt walked around, fetching Blaine the water and drugs he was promised.

"It's not what it looked like, dad," Kurt said calmly.

"And what did it look like, Kurt? It looked like you had your boyfriend sleeping in your bed last night."

"Well if that's all, then yes, it is what it looked like. But our clothes stayed on the entire time. Blaine was too drunk to drive so I let him stay here, and he passed out before I had any chance of either of us sleeping on the couch," Kurt explained.

"I thought you went to Rachel's house!" Burt exclaimed.

"And we did. We weren't lying to you, dad."

"Should I be calling Rachel's parents to confirm?" Kurt sighed. His dad's raised eyebrows weren't ever particularly intimidating, especially when Kurt knew that his dad was just a big teddy bear and that he was on the spoilt side.

"Her dads are on a cruise. I didn't know that there was going to be alcohol and I didn't drink any, anyway- and neither did Finn. So if you don't mind, I'm going to go and tend to my hungover boyfriend, since I doubt he'll get any sympathy anywhere else, and I'm actually worried as to why he drank so much in the first place." Burt didn't seem too happy with Kurt, but he didn't argue as Kurt left to look after Blaine. Kurt hoped he appreciated that Kurt was being responsible and taking accountability for the situation.

* * *

**To:** Defenders of Dreamweaver _(list)_

**From:** Luke Gautier _(LGautier)_

**Subject:** Last minute cancellation

Hey all,

Sorry to cancel on the LARP so late in the day, but there will be no session this afternoon. This is because a) there's no one to host, and b) Erica has the flu and insists that we can't play without her. I'm sorry about that, but knowing her she will be back on her feet for our regular Wednesday session.

See you all then,

Luke (and Erica)

* * *

**Blaine A.** _I'm already on my way to Lima and only just had Luke's email come through. Are you good to hang out this afternoon anyway? xox_

**Kurt H.** _Totally! xx_

**Blaine A.** _Great, I'll meet you at the Lima Bean in 20?_

**Kurt H.** _Sure :)_

Kurt took his time getting to the Lima Bean and saved their favourite table when he arrived, deciding to wait on ordering until Blaine was there. He knew how much his boyfriend hated gone-cold coffee. Blaine's grin on entering made the whole trip feel worthwhile.

"Hey," Blaine said, "You aren't horribly cut about the rain check to the Nightarcy date, are you?" he sat down, loosening his scarf.

"I'd prefer a Klaine date any day," Kurt said, "I'll get the coffee." He ordered their drinks and sat back down at the table, passing one of the cups over to Blaine. They each took a sip before switching the cups around with one another. "Sorry," Kurt said, "That's the trouble when they write Kurt on both cups."

"It's fine," he said, "I don't hate your mochas, I just prefer to drink my medium drips. But mochas _do_ taste like your kisses right after we've been hanging out here." Kurt laughed, and when he felt Blaine's foot lightly grazing his leg he didn't stop it. He loved playing footsies under the table with him.

"Did you have fun on Saturday night?"

"For the parts I remember, anyway. I'm a little disappointed that I don't remember cuddling with you all night, though."

"There will be more cuddles," Kurt assured, "do you remember kissing Rachel?"

"Yes, I do remember that far. She tasted like wine coolers and bourbon and it was kind of sticky because she put on at least three layers of strawberry lip gloss before the game," Blaine recalled, scrunching up his nose at the memory. It was clearly something he had no desire to revisit in the future.

"Do you drink a lot?" Kurt asked curiously, hoping it sounded nonchalant. He needed to settle the heavy-drinking-versus-lightweight debate he had been having with himself.

"Not really. I mean, I'm used to having a glass of wine at dinner, but not more than that. How about you? You weren't even drinking on Saturday, right?"

"Right. I haven't had the best experiences with drunkenness, and I was keeping an eye on you, to be honest." Kurt figured now was as good a time as any to have the conversation with Blaine that he needed to have.

"Why? I was fine."

"You weren't really though, were you? Aren't now, even?" Kurt asked cautiously. Blaine sighed.

"Is this because you think I'm overworking myself again?" he asked. Kurt didn't deny it, and Blaine immediately got defensive, sitting up a little straighter and moving his feet back. Kurt frowned at the subtle actions.

"I'm worried that you drank so much in a short space of time because you were trying to drown some feelings about something. It's okay for you to drink, but I think you should be a little bit more responsible next time-"

"So this is about me not reaching your standards?" Blaine said, standing up angrily. Kurt furrowed his brow.

"I never said that, Blaine. Sit down, please?" Blaine didn't move. "I guess we're taking this show on the road, then." Kurt picked up his coffee cup and extended a hand to Blaine, which was passive-aggressively ignored. When they got outside they remembered that they had taken two separate cars to get there. "Let's take a walk. The cars will be fine for another ten minutes." Blaine nodded, and fell into step with Kurt. "I think your reaction says a lot about why I'm worried about you, Blaine."

"You're meant to be different, Kurt. You're not meant to have impossibly high and ever rising standards for me like everyone else does. You're meant to accept me exactly as I am, flaws and all. Because I'm not perfect, and I'm not ever _going_ to be."

"And I don't want you to be perfect when you're already perfect for me," Kurt said softly. He offered Blaine a hand again, but Blaine shook his head softly. Kurt retracted his hand with a nod, pretending to understand what was going on inside his boyfriend's head.

"Just admit it, Kurt. You think that I'm getting stressed because you think that I can't deal with all my commitments, when the only people who could ever juggle this many things _and_ a boyfriend have superpowers," Blaine said. He wasn't making a lot of eye contact with Kurt, rather looking right ahead as they walked.

"Are you trying to break up with me?" Kurt asked quietly, "If… if I'm not what you need and I'm just one more thing to juggle?" Blaine stopped walking and turned to Kurt then, finally looking at him properly. He seemed shocked by the way his own sentence had sounded.

"Oh god, Kurt, no. I don't want to break up with you at all."

"You make it seem that way. I'm worried because I care Blaine, not because I want to push you to reach some expectation. The only expectation I have for you is that you'll look after yourself and be happy, and this is the whole deal- I don't think that you're meeting that," Kurt said. He finished his drink and threw his cup in a nearby bin. "Ready to walk back?" Blaine threw his cup away too and took Kurt's hand, finally.

"Yeah. Your hands are cold."

"I left my gloves in the car." Blaine passed Kurt his right glove, and took Kurt's left hand in his.

"Better?" Blaine asked.

"Much." Kurt thanked him with a quick kiss to his cheek. "You?"

"Kurt… I can't reach anyone else's expectations, so I can't promise to reach yours, either. I would promise to look after myself, but as soon as you put the word expect there I start to worry. I'll look after myself, but not to the level that you want to. Because I'm not a hero."

"I don't _want_ Nightbird, Blaine. I'm dating _you_ , and _Darcy_ is dating Nightbird. The sooner you can get that through your head the better." When they reached the cars Kurt handed Blaine his glove back. "Thank you. Are you going to come back to my house now?" he asked hopefully. Blaine nodded.

"Of course. I think I need to talk some more." Kurt smiled.

"Okay."

* * *

"Have dinner with my parents," Blaine blurted out, having finally gotten to the bottom of his constant negations of Kurt's statements. He seemed to have realised now that Kurt was only in it for what was best for them, and not to set standards that he couldn't reach. He wasn't the same as his parents. Kurt would push him to be his best, but he wouldn't ever demand more than that. Sometimes he just couldn't understand how such a wonderful person could end up feel so crappy.

"Are you sure, Blaine? I don't want to throw a spanner in the works."

"You won't understand until you meet them, Kurt," Blaine said, "Just come for dinner. One meal is long enough. And what if you get stuck with them for in-laws one day?" Kurt bit his lip to stop him from smiling too much.

"You think about marrying me?"

"Um, no?" Blaine said uncertainly with a certain amount of teasing in his voice, "Psh, that would be weird. We're so young."

"It's okay, B," Kurt replied, "If I'm going to imagine being married to anyone you're the logical choice. Sometimes Zac Efron. But usually you." Blaine laughed.

"Everyone knows I love Zefron the most." Kurt laughed too then, glad that they could share these small moments of pure happiness, giggling together about Zac Efron. "Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I sing for you?" Kurt nodded enthusiastically. He had been thinking about Blaine singing ever since his eye contact had gone to Rachel those few days ago. He loved being the one that Blaine focussed on while he poured his heart and soul into the music- it made him feel touched to be the one his heart and soul was being poured to. Bit by bit, Kurt was noticing that Blaine's music and he weren't so unalike. Blaine had a habit of making them both the centre of his world.

Blaine scurried off and returned with an acoustic guitar. "How did you know where that was in _my_ house?" Kurt asked, crossing his arms over his chest, "Have you been snooping? Waiting for an opportunity to use it?"

"I just happened to remember Finn had one." Blaine strummed the guitar softly and winced at the sound it made. "Someone takes a few liberties when they tune this," he explained, and began to fix the strings one by one. He strummed it again, and, content with the sound, looked at Kurt.

"What are you going to sing?"

"You probably haven't heard it before, but I think it says everything I want to say better than I can say it," Blaine said. He began to play the intro, and soon started singing, glancing down every so often to change chords but mostly played fluidly, maintaining eye contact with Kurt as he sang.

" _I will save you, every time you need a rescue. When there's no stars at night, I'll stay until the sun shines. But you want something that I will never be so I just need you to know…"_ Kurt smiled at the lyrics. Blaine's eyes shone adoringly as he looked at Kurt, which made him melt internally.

" _May not be able to fly, but I'll take you on adventures. May not move at the speed of light, but if you need me I'll be there. I will save the day when you start to lose hope, I will never be a superhero,"_ Honestly, did Blaine just hoard songs that were relevant to them and about superheroes? It was getting a little bit weird how many superhero references Blaine could find in song form. Not that Kurt didn't appreciate his dedication to superheroes.

As Blaine played the last chord, Kurt opened his mouth to compliment his performance. He was cut off before he could start by Blaine's phone ringing. "It's Rachel," Blaine said, looking at Kurt in a way that questioned whether he could answer.

"Take it. It could be funny." Blaine smirked and answered the call, shuffling so he was close enough to Kurt to put his arm around him.

"Hey, Rachel… I'm good, thank you for asking… Yeah, I'm just with Kurt at the moment… Kurt? Rachel says hi… Yeah, I'd love to hang out with you someti-oh. No. You know that Kurt and I are a couple right? Like, an exclusive, boyfriends, _gay_ couple? I'm flattered Rachel, truly, but no…. Alright, I'll see you later. Bye." Blaine hung up the phone and looked at it for a moment before bursting out into giggles. "She asked me out," he explained to Kurt. Kurt couldn't help but laugh too.

"She really thought your kiss was _that_ good?"

"Apparently so- hey! You kiss me all the time and you don't seem to complain!" Blaine said.

"And your regular kisses are wonderful, Blaine, but you're a teeny bit slobbery when you've been drinking."

"Trust me, slobbery is better than sticky. Neither of us are ever going to start wearing lip gloss because it's awful." He scrunched up his nose a bit at the thought.

"And here I was thinking you were going to milk that Katy Perry song for all it was worth," Kurt teased. Blaine pulled Kurt to his feet, half-singing jokingly to him.

"I kissed a girl, and I liked it!" Blaine teased.

"Except for the part where you didn't," Kurt pointed out.

"Details," Blaine said, pulling Kurt close into a hug, forgetting the world around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The song Blaine sings is Superhero by Luke Conard.


	16. Meet The Parents

**Kurt H.** _I need you to Skype me RIGHT NOW._

**Blaine A.** _Is it really super important or can it wait two minutes while I finish making my sandwich?_

**Kurt H.** _Finish making your sandwich, but then RIGHT AWAY._

Kurt made sure his laptop was set up on his bed so that he could answer Blaine's call right away, and grabbed a few final things as he heard the familiar calling noise. He accepted the call and waited for Blaine's face to load clearly.

"Hey, cutie," Blaine said, "it's fine if I eat while we do this, right?" he gestured at his sandwich.

"Hi yourself. Eat away, I don't mind," Kurt replied, "speaking of cuties though, you're wearing glasses." Blaine immediately pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Oh! Yeah, I usually wear disposable lenses because my eyes don't tolerate cleaning solution very well but my parents still thought that contacts were less detrimental to my performing career. But there was a mix up at the optometrists so I'm stuck with my back up glasses for a couple of days," he explained.

"They're adorable. I don't know what your parents are so worried about."

"Myopia is something that they actually can fix, you see, so they went for the most expensive option without getting laser surgery, or something. But honestly, they just didn't want me to be plagued with glasses for my whole life, because they make my face less attractive."

"I'd argue with that," Kurt said.

"Oh, I see." Blaine wiggled his eyebrows at Kurt, making him laugh. "So, what was the big disaster that required urgent Skyping?"

"I need your help choosing something to wear to dinner with your parents tomorrow," Kurt said, "I've never had to meet a boyfriend's parents before!"

"Kurt, I was wearing my Nightbird costume when I met your dad for the first time. Wear anything without a cape and you'll be fine," Blaine said. Kurt thought he was probably trying to make him laugh, but he was too nervous to process the humour of it.

"But which outfit do I wear?" Blaine shrugged.

"Is it fashion show time?"

"I don't want to leave you staring at the wall while I get changed."

"You could always just get changed in front of the camera. I wouldn't mind," Blaine teased, wiggling his eyebrows again. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You wish. Okay, which shirt do I wear?" Kurt held up a few options away from the camera so that they were in clear view for Blaine.

"I like the purple one. Wear your white skinny jeans, those are my favourites."

"Only if you wear the navy cardigan I love so much."

"Deal. Is that all you needed me for?"

"So tomorrow night at seven?" Kurt clarified. Blaine shook his head.

"Can you tolerate a change of plans?" He waited for Kurt to make some motion of affirmation before he continued, "Ethan is driving to Lima so I can go with him, and then he can drop me at your house and we can drive together for dinner, and then you can drive home whenever we're done with dinner, unless you want to stay longer."

"Do I need that much of a crash course on your parents?" Kurt asked, slightly alarmed. He knew that he would have to put aside his preformed feelings about Blaine's parents when they met, because as it stood he didn't like them very much for making his boyfriend feel so insignificant.

"Maybe. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I just want to spend more time with you tomorrow."

"Aww. Will you still be bespectacled?"

"Yeah, I don't get my contacts until Monday. Do you want to see me or my glasses?" Blaine teased.

"Do you want to spend time with me or my mouth?" Kurt teased back.

"Touché. I'll give you a half hour warning text tomorrow so you can be completely presentable, okay?"

"Thanks. I'll see you then. You can go now, if you want. Now we've gotten to the bottom of this clothing issue," Kurt said, not wanting to keep Blaine around longer than necessary. It was great that he could drop everything and Skype him, but he didn't want him to feel obligated to stay.

"We can talk for longer if you want, Kurt," Blaine said, "I'm not busy. I was only making a sandwich before because I'm hungry. All I did was sit in bed and play The Sims all day."

"Do you play as us?" Kurt asked. Blaine shook his head overenthusiastically.

"Nope, not at all. I play as Blaire and her wife Kate. They have a son called Pepito." Kurt laughed. It wasn't hard to pick up the similarities to their names.

"Pepito, though?"

"I really like _Madeline_ ," Blaine dramatically stage whispered to his webcam. Kurt couldn't help but laugh again, as Blaine continued to stubbornly defend his name choice for their (gender flips') hypothetical child.

* * *

"Oh god, you're cuter in person," Kurt said to Blaine the moment he opened the door. Blaine was wearing the navy cardigan, as promised, and he looked absolutely gorgeous.

"I'm good, thanks for asking," Blaine said, rolling his eyes and stepping into Kurt's house. "You like the glasses that much, huh? Maybe I'll never wear contacts again." Kurt slid his hand into Blaine's and led him through to the living room.

"But then the novelty would wear off eventually. This way we get the best of everything." He sat down on the couch, and was surprised when he found that Blaine sat down in his lap, his arms around Kurt's neck. "Oh, hello there," he said.

"Hi," Blaine replied, nuzzling underneath Kurt's jaw.

"Can I help you with something?" Blaine kissed Kurt then, and Kurt let his arms close around Blaine's middle to keep him place. They stayed in the same position until there was a throat cleared in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt, boys, but if you two aren't too busy, would you mind helping us bring in the shopping?" Burt asked. Blaine happily slid off Kurt's lap.

"Sure, Mister Hummel," he said brightly, and scurried out to the car to carry bags in. Kurt followed behind less happily and gave his dad an unhappy look on his way out. In the kitchen a few minutes later, Blaine and Kurt helped Carole unload the bags, sorting and putting things away as they were able to, but mostly tried to keep out of Kurt's stepmother's way.

"Thank you for your help," she said, "I know Burt put you up to it, but I really do appreciate it. Especially you, Blaine. I would say that you're the guest, but I think you're around here often enough to lose the title."

"Not until dad calls him something affectionate," Kurt said. The others looked at him for clarification. "There are levels of approval. He insists you call him by his first name, for one," Blaine already had received that honour and seemed to choose to ignore it most of the time, "and then you get an affectionate name. Kid, kiddo, bud… that kind of thing."

"When did he start calling you kiddo?" Blaine asked, hopping up to sit on the bench, swinging his feet gently.

"About ten minutes after he was born," Burt supplied, entering the kitchen, "Elizabeth wasn't thrilled and insisted that I used his name otherwise he would get confused, but the habit stuck pretty fast. Are you two actually helping?"

"I don't know my way around your kitchen, sir," Blaine said. Burt clapped him on the shoulder.

"It's Burt. Off the bench, son, we prepare food up there. I'm surprised Kurt didn't chase you off." Blaine looked smugly at Kurt, none of them missing that Burt had called him son.

"You seem entirely too happy about not being a guest anymore," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. Of all of the names that Burt could have chosen to call Blaine, Kurt knew he had made exactly the right choice. If there was anyone who needed to have positive connotations with father/son relationships, it was Blaine.

"It's because he likes me," Blaine said to Burt, ignoring Kurt's comment. Kurt resisted the urge to cover his face with his hands.

"He likes kissing you, anyway," Burt replied, setting out coffee mugs. A blush began to creep up Blaine's cheeks, and Kurt thought he was probably looking similar.

"Dad!"

"As much as I love the company, this kitchen isn't big enough for four people, so if I could politely shoo you two out…" Carole said. Kurt and Blaine didn't need to be told twice, disappearing from the kitchen and only standing nearby long enough to hear Carole telling Burt off for embarrassing them- but they were both clearly laughing.

"You never denied that you like kissing me," Blaine said, lacing his fingers with Kurt's as they walked upstairs together.

"Well, I do, but that's not all I like, you know?"

"Aww, you do like me," Blaine teased, kissing Kurt on the cheek lightly, "do you want to know a secret?" he pulled Kurt into a close hug and whispered, "I like you too."

"Okay, final crash course to my parents," Blaine said, after they had been driving for a bit, "neither of them are worried about the fact that you're a guy and I'm gay. They will love every single thing you have to say about your glee club and the McKinley musicals and that you're a countertenor. I'd avoid bringing up that we're competing at regionals, though, but feel free to bring up the original songs and such. And no, I haven't taken the idea to the Warbler council, your friends can relax."

"What do I say if they ask me about my parents?" Kurt asked.

"Tell them the truth. They're rich and all, but they aren't going to look down upon your dad's business. They value hard workers."

"Okay. Do you think that they will like me?"

"Don't worry about whether they do or not. They aren't thrilled that I'm dating, partially because I'm a teenager and they insist that high school relationships can't last- I'd like to point out that my parents in fact met in high school, although they didn't date until much later, and then got married fairly young," Blaine paused for a moment, "oh my god, my mom retired because she got knocked up. Everything makes sense now." He shook his head, and then continued, "but anyway, also partially because they think that dating will distract me from everything else."

"Maybe your parents are secretly pleased that you're gay, because they know that you aren't going to get me pregnant," Kurt suggested.

"Actually, that is a very good point. That's probably it. But just anticipate that my dad will tell you that you're distracting me from my music, and then you'll either be ready for it or pleasantly surprised when it doesn't happen."

"Okay, okay. Do you know what we're having?" Blaine nodded.

"We're having my mom's fried chicken. It's my favourite, which is why she phrased her question as 'you want me to make fried chicken for Kurt's visit, right?' instead of 'what do you want for dinner?'" Blaine said, raising the pitch of his voice to mimic his mother.

"That's not really what she sounds like, is it?"

"No, but she did sound almost excited to meet you." Kurt thought maybe that was what worried him the most. The last thing he wanted was for the Andersons to think that he wasn't good enough for their son. Blaine had told him that they were good at having expectations- and Kurt was terrified that they would expect something big from him too.

* * *

Blaine kissed Kurt in the car for a few minutes before they went inside, almost as though they were preparing themselves for not kissing again for the rest of the evening. Kurt was starting to wonder if that meant he wouldn't get a goodnight kiss or anything, if Blaine was compensating for something then.

"So do you want me to drive up to your house now, or..?" Kurt asked. They were parked down the road a little way, even though there were plenty of closer parks. He wouldn't be surprised if Blaine's house had a large carport, either.

"No. This gives me an excuse to walk you out to your car at the end of the night," Blaine explained. He leaned over and kissed Kurt once more before they got out of the car. Blaine held his hand as they walked towards the house.

"I feel like I'm arriving empty handed," Kurt said, "was I meant to bring anything?"

"Not at all. _I'm_ bringing _you_ , so it's okay." As they walked up the driveway to Blaine's house (which was longer than Kurt had expected) the house came into view and Kurt's breath caught in his throat.

"Your house is actually gorgeous," Kurt said, not sure why he had expected anything less. The Anderson's house was big and beautiful, and Kurt felt as underdressed as he had worried about the day before.

"Thanks. Tell my mom that, she'll love to hear it." As they got inside, Kurt realised that the beauty absolutely did not end when you stepped through the door. The entrance hall was beautiful in itself. "I know it's pretty, but the whole house feels decorative, and I just want to warn you of that now. It doesn't really feel lived in."

"Are you sure you don't live in a castle?" Kurt asked, looking up at the large staircase that looked like it had stepped right out of a fairy tale.

"It's actually a much smaller house than this would lead you to believe. There are actually only five rooms upstairs. Do you want the tour? We might find my parents on the way." Kurt nodded eagerly, and Blaine led him around the house, from the sitting room to the dining room and then into the kitchen.

"Hey mom," Blaine greeted, and she let the spoon she was stirring rest against the edge of the bowl to wash her hands quickly.

"Hello, darling," she replied. Blaine walked over to peer into the bowl and see what she was making. "Yes, it's going to be sticky date pudding, but please keep your fingers out." She walked over to where Kurt was standing somewhat awkwardly. "You must be Kurt. It's a shame Blaine couldn't introduce us."

"Oh!" Blaine said, rushing over to Kurt's side, "Mom, this is Kurt, my boyfriend. Kurt, this is my mom." She extended her hand to Kurt, who shook it politely.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Anderson," Kurt said.

"Likewise, Kurt, I've heard so much about you. It's Delia, by the way, but call me whatever you're comfortable with." She took the spoon in hand again and continued with her baking.

"Let's get out of your mom's hair, Blaine. I have the rest of the house to see still," Kurt said, lacing his fingers with his boyfriend's again. She smiled at them as they left. "She seems nice," Kurt said as they walked through the living room, continuing with the tour.

"You actually _can_ call her Delia if you like, that wasn't her trying to be polite or anything. Hell, _I_ call her Delia sometimes," Blaine said.

"So you actually have a good relationship with your mom?"

"Most of the time, yeah. She wants to push me to do my best, but she trusts that I know what that is. She doesn't want me to lose passion for what I do."

"So you're actually just a typical rich boy with daddy issues?" Kurt teased, knowing that Blaine wouldn't be upset by his joking.

"Yes. At least he doesn't want me to be a lawyer."

"The fact that your family is so rich but neither of your parents have high incomes doesn't add up for me."

"It's the other way around," Blaine explained, "They both have these inheritances and that meant they were financially stable enough to pursue a risky performing career. My dad lived at home until he was twenty-one, to start with. The house was inherited, too. My mom's parents lived here until I was two and my grandma desperately required a retirement village." Blaine led him right up to a door and then stopped without opening it. "This is the study. My dad will be in here, probably. Now, I really love this room and my baby grand is in here, but you know, also my dad. Who you're about to meet. Okay?" Kurt nodded, taking a deep breath. If there was anything Kurt had been worried about prior to the evening, it was this moment. "Let me make it seem casual. We're just seeing the piano."

Blaine opened the door and ushered Kurt inside. "This is the study, and here is my gorgeous baby grand," Blaine said. His father spun around in an intimidating office chair, and Kurt was immediately surprised by how _normal_ he looked. "Oh, hello, dad," Blaine said, trying to play it off as casually as he could. Kurt thought he was doing rather well. Blaine's dad got up out of his chair and crossed to the piano, where Kurt was currently leaning as Blaine sat on the stool.

"Hi, Blaine. Sneaking in some extra practice?"

"You caught me. Dad, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Kurt Hummel. Kurt, this is my dad." Blaine introduced. Kurt extended his hand first and wasn't surprised by Blaine's father's firm grip.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Kurt. I was beginning to think that Blaine had made you up."

"You too, Mister Anderson. Not that I expected that Blaine had made up his parents." Blaine's dad laughed, much to Kurt's relief. Blaine was soon pulling Kurt out of the study, and skimmed over the rest of the house before showing Kurt his bedroom. The moment Kurt had talked up the most about the tour was seeing Blaine's bedroom for the first time, and honestly he was a little underwhelmed. The lines of trophies didn't surprise him, nor that there were numerous photos of his friends (including Kurt) on the walls. But the room was too tidy, too impersonal, for Kurt to be hit with the sense that he was seeing somewhere special to his boyfriend.

"Oh my gosh, you hate them. That was so awful. I'm so sorry you had to meet them, Kurt." Blaine said, dropping onto his bed.

"What do you mean? I thought that went pretty well. Though I never caught your dad's name." Kurt sat down beside his boyfriend and draped his arms around him loosely. Blaine pulled him closer, nuzzling Kurt softly for a moment.

"It's Arthur, but stick to Mister Anderson and sir. It's better to be too respectful and for him to pull you back. I don't really know, though, because I've never had a boyfriend to make those mistakes. Nick, Jeff and Wes all address him formally, and then there's David who calls him 'Uncle Arthur' still. It's cute, really." Kurt nodded, remembering meeting all of the Warblers several times. He hadn't known that David and Blaine were particularly close, but at the same time it didn't surprise him an awful lot.

"Okay, that's good advice." A moment of silence hung between them, before Kurt thought to point something out to his boyfriend. "So your dad's Arthur, you're Blaine, your brother is Cooper, and your mom is Delia. You're A, B, C, and D Anderson."

"Yes." Blaine said. He tugged at Kurt's arms lightly to shuffle them up the bed, cuddling more comfortably.

"Why do all you rich families have patterns?" Kurt asked.

"You mean like how Jeff's family is all J names?" Blaine asked, giving him a look that screamed of _really, Kurt? Generalising? Really?_

"Exactly."

"You are aware that you and your dad are Kurt and Burt Hummel, right?" Blaine pointed out with a slight laugh.

"At least my mom was Elizabeth. That throws it off."

"Isn't that your middle name?" Blaine asked. Kurt sighed.

"Okay, fine, you win. The legitimacy of that being my middle name is a highly debated subject, so thank you for not doubting it."

"I asked your dad and he told me that it was Elizabeth, so either it's the truth or he's willing to play along for whatever reason," Blaine explained, "it's Elijah, isn't it?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations." Blaine kissed up Kurt's neck lightly, as if trying to coax some be all end all answer out of him.

"Aww, Kurtsies, you can tell me if it isn't Elizabeth," he murmured, continuing with his trailing over Kurt's neck, occasionally straying high enough to press a kiss to Kurt's lips.

"One must never reveal all their secrets… I'll lose, um, mystery…"

"If my parents ask at dinner, we were watching a movie," Blaine said, sitting upright, "Actually, do you want to put something on?" Kurt shook his head, and pulled Blaine back down on top of him.

* * *

Delia's fried chicken was everything that Blaine had talked it up to be. They sat opposite Blaine's parents and Blaine occasionally squeezed Kurt's hand underneath the table reassuringly as they dominated the conversation with asking Kurt questions about his school and home life. As Blaine had predicted, they were impressed with the New Directions (they also revealed that Blaine had shown them clips of their performances, though apparently had not pointed out which one was his boyfriend, which had caused Blaine to blush), and were even more impressed when Kurt revealed that he was a countertenor.

"What did McKinley put on as a musical this year?" Arthur asked.

"We didn't end up performing our musical. You see, we were going to do The Rocky Horror Show, but a series of events meant that it was cancelled. I mean, firstly we were doing the film version of all the songs and with the film variations to the script which was weird, considering we were performing live… also, it was wildly inappropriate for a high school, so I'm surprised it took so long to be cancelled, honestly." Kurt explained. Arthur nodded knowingly.

"And who did you play, Kurt?"

"I was Riff Raff. I was offered Frank N. Furter, but the last thing I need these days is to dress in drag on stage. It was kind of insulting that they thought I would want to play the part."

"It's because you're star material and Frank N. Furter is the lead," Blaine said, his eyes adoring. Kurt smiled at him and thanked him politely. Blaine's parents didn't seem to mind how affectionate Blaine was getting.

If Delia's fried chicken was good, her sticky date pudding was exceptional. Blaine asked for seconds, and, after some persuading, Kurt accepted a second helping himself. Delia put the refreshed bowl in front of him with a brief comment about how they were growing teenage boys who were bottomless pits, and Kurt was thankful that she hadn't tried to put him into any boxes. First and foremost, Kurt was still a boy, after all, and she seemed to get that better than a lot of middle aged women- or women at all, if his friends were anything to judge by.

Kurt decided to head home not long after dinner, having some homework to get out of the way before school the next day. Though Arthur disappeared back into the study not long after dinner's conclusion, Delia stayed around to talk to the boys a bit longer.

"I'll get Blaine to email you the recipes," she promised Kurt.

"Thank you, Delia. It was lovely to meet you."

"Oh, you too, darling. Come again any time you like, I feel like this house is getting quieter all the time," she said, glaring somewhat jokingly towards Blaine. Kurt knew very well that he hardly had the time to be at home.

Blaine walked Kurt out to the car and kissed him goodnight. "You know, that didn't actually go half as badly as I anticipated," Blaine said.

"I know, Blaine. I think they like me and everything. See, we had nothing to worry about." Blaine laughed.

"I'll let you know if either of them criticise your outfit," he promised, which made Kurt smile, leaning in for one last kiss.


	17. Three Little Words

Kurt practically skipped into the Lima Bean, happy to be seeing his boyfriend for the first time in a week. Knowing that most of the LARP group was caught up in insane amounts of extra practices for the upcoming show choir regionals, Luke and Erika had called off their regular sessions until after the competition was over, at which point they promised to throw a celebratory party at their house for whoever it was who ended up the winner, whether it was the Warblers or the New Directions- and no one had any confidence it would be Aural Intensity.

Blaine stood up as Kurt approached their table and pulled him into a comfortable hug, sneaking a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek. "Hey," Blaine said, "it's good to see you. I only just sat down, our drinks will be ready in a minute."

"How are your practices going?" Kurt asked as they both sat down. Blaine pushed the plate of biscotti over to him.

"Ew. Can we talk about something that _isn't_ glee club? Unless you want to tell me that you wrote me a love ballad." Kurt had told Blaine about their plan to write originals, with the very serious threat of a break up if Blaine shared the plan with the Warblers. Blaine had just been glad to have been trusted with the information.

"I'm not much of a song writer. Even if an original song would be my best shot at a performance solo."

" _Oh Blaine, you drive me insane_ … practically writes itself," Blaine said with a shrug. Kurt laughed, completely taken with how adorable his boyfriend was. "Oh, Kurt! You could compete as a Warbler! Perfect!" he seemed so happy with the suggestion that Kurt almost worried about breaking his heart when he declined.

"I can't just be a Warbler for one competition. I don't even go to Dalton."

"It would be perfect! We could sing a duet. We've been auditioning guys all day for the third song, hoping to find someone to change it up. I thought we were getting close but this one guy, Jack, sang _Toxic_ and the council berated him for trying to mimic my style too much. Actually, I don't know why I was even there. I'm not even on the council."

"Are you listening to me, Blaine?" Kurt asked, raising his eyebrow at him.

"We'll sing something really emotional… like… hmm…. I'll work on that. I don't think _As Long As You're Mine_ or _I'll Cover You_ would go down very well," Blaine continued. Kurt sighed softly. As much as he loved his boyfriend's rambling, as cute as it was, it would be nice for him to remember to listen. That was the problem with being in a relationship where both of you loved the spotlight.

"I doubt the council would approve me joining for one competition, but I do appreciate the thought, sweetie," Kurt said, knowing that shifting the blame away from him was probably the safest bet.

"Aww, Kurt," Blaine said, "if only you had transferred to Dalton. Then you could perform with us and you wouldn't have to deal with Karofsky every day."

"I wouldn't be half the person I am today if I had run from him, Blaine."

"I know. I ran, Kurt, and you should be damn proud of where you are."

Kurt sighed. He tried to keep Blaine in the loop about the bullying, but he was so adjusted to it that he barely even noticed it being unusual anymore himself. "It hasn't gotten a lot better, but it's lessened off a bit, now. I think he only does it when he's with a big group now, and he almost looks sorry… which I hate."

"I happen to quite like the person you are today," Blaine said, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hand. Blaine's name was called and it startled him, but he quickly jumped up to collect their drinks. "One non-fat mocha," he said as he set the cup down in front of Kurt before reclaiming his seat.

"Thanks," Kurt said, "it's too bad we can't just go to nationals together."

"I promise to you right now, Kurt, that if you win I will do everything I possibly can to be there to cheer you on."

"I'm so excited for it being New York, and we aren't even going yet."

"New promise, if the Warblers win I will do everything I possibly can for you to be there to cheer me on." Kurt knew that there wasn't much he actually could do so it was a bit of an empty promise, but he was happy to hear it nonetheless. The thought of him with Blaine in New York… it was hard not to let that image get carried away.

* * *

Kurt sat with the other New Directions in the theatre, looking over at the sea of navy blazers while Rachel chatted away to Mister Schuester on his right. He had sat in the aisle seat on purpose, making sure that in the event his boyfriend stopped by he wouldn't have to push past everyone. He picked up the odd snippet of her conversation with Mister Schuester- they were running through the whole set orally, something about solidifying a routine. They had been practicing for weeks; Kurt could sing the backup vocals in his sleep by this point. He loved being part of the team, he really did, but he was still upset that he didn't have a solo after everything he had done for the group. No competition solos to date, and he was an original member. Tina was the only one who had smiled shyly in support when he brought that point up at a practice, and it wasn't like Mister Schuester even cared.

Kurt felt a tap on his shoulder and immediately jumped out of his seat to throw his arms around his boyfriend. "Hey!" he greeted happily, burying his face in Blaine's shoulder for a moment.

"Hi, cutie," Blaine replied, hesitating as he pulled away from the hug. Kurt wasn't sure why exactly the pet name had stuck, but he loved hearing it nonetheless, even if he was certain that Blaine was the cutest of them all. Kurt exhaled slowly, glancing over to Rachel and Mister Schuester again. "Nervous?"

"Yeah," Kurt admitted, nodding slightly, "it's silly, especially since I may as well be swaying at the back, but I always get a teeny bit nervous in front of these kinds of crowds."

"Just remember that I'm out there. Sing to me, Kurt, and just remember that I-" Blaine stopped himself momentarily, biting his lip nervously. "That I love you." Kurt's breath caught in his throat as he inhaled sharply in surprise. He hadn't expected to be hearing that any time soon. It was still sinking in for him that he had a boyfriend who wanted to go on dates with him and meet his parents and spend evenings cuddling on the couch him- and yet the words didn't feel wrong at all.

The silence between them obviously dragged on a moment too long because Blaine's gaze dropped down to his shoes. "I love you too," Kurt said finally, and Blaine looked up at him again hopefully. Despite the uncertainty they both clearly felt before having said it, now that they had there was a certain tangible relief between them that it was out on the table. They loved each other. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom," Kurt said to Rachel. She looked at him questioningly, smiling flirtatiously up at Blaine somehow almost simultaneously. "Nervous bladder," Kurt explained before grabbing Blaine's hand and quickly exiting the auditorium.

"You don't really need the bathroom, do you?" Blaine said, smirking to himself. Kurt pulled him around the corner, glad for the clear hallway, and pushed him softly up against a wall to kiss him.

"Nope," Kurt said, "I just love you."

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Blaine said, silenced by another kiss, "it was less than ideal circumstances, but I guess now I can keep saying it forever."

"As long as it's true, anyway."

"So forever, then." Kurt smiled and captured his lips again, thinking that he would be content if that moment lasted for that eternity. Kurt jumped away from Blaine, who was still leaning on the wall, as they heard footsteps. He turned to find Santana having just rounded the corner, rolling her eyes heavily.

"Get your ass back inside, Princess, Berry is about to vomit all over your empty seat." Blaine looked at her questioningly while Kurt just rolled his eyes right back at her. "You too, hobbit. The peacocks probably miss your ridiculously excited face." She politely averted her eyes as Blaine leaned up for one last kiss, which Kurt happily supplied, before they trailed behind Santana back into the auditorium. Blaine said an awkward farewell as they went they separate ways to return to their seats, letting a gentle hand squeeze suffice.

**Mercedes J.** _Dish._

Kurt looked down the row to see Mercedes glaring at him, before gesturing to her phone that he should reply. Everyone knew that he hadn't gone to the bathroom, after all, and they were all at different stages of caring. Mister Schuester certainly seemed to care a lot, even though it wasn't his place to, and a few of the girls by Mercedes seemed interested. There was a significant chunk of the group who didn't really seem to mind that Kurt had gone at all.

**Kurt H.** _I'm officially in love with Blaine Anderson._

**Mercedes J.** _!_

**Mercedes J.** _I expect FULL details on the bus._

**Kurt H.** _Deal._

"Kurt?" Rachel asked, almost timidly, and he put his phone politely away to talk to her. He had never heard Rachel so uncertain in all of the time he had known her, but just then she was being truly cautious about something.

"Yes, Rachel?"

"Are you upset with me that I asked your boyfriend out on a date?" Kurt laughed out loud, unable to stop himself. Rachel looked confused at the outburst but half smiled anyway.

"Oh, god no. It was _hilarious_. And Blaine's reaction. I just- no, Rachel, I'm not upset at you." He wiped a tear from his eye, and Rachel giggled softly along with him. "Did you just not care that he was gay or taken?"

"I… I barely thought about it, honestly. It was just a spur of the moment decision. I was so caught up in how beautiful our children would be… Naturally Olivier, our eldest son, would be gay. You would be his godfather and he would go to you for advice about everything."

"You _do_ realise parents don't get to decide their child's orientation, right?" he shook his head, trying to clear the fogging thoughts of _by god, she was serious_ from his mind. "What would you name your other sons? Oscar and Tony?" Rachel looked bashfully down at her lap. Kurt sighed.

"I was _really_ excited about marrying someone who could kept up with me vocally-"

"And height wise," Kurt interrupted.

"And could give me vaguely Eurasian children. And we kissed… and then the duet… I just felt like we had so much chemistry, you know? I'm so sorry, Kurt." She sounded truly genuine in her apology, something that Kurt wasn't used to hearing a whole lot.

"Really, you have nothing to be sorry about," Kurt assured her, "I've kissed him a lot more and been on plenty of dates since your party. You haven't hindered our relationship in the slightest."

"Is he as good a boyfriend as he seems?" Rachel asked, in what Kurt took to be an attempt to turn it around into a gossip session of some sort. He nodded, and at her non-verbal gentle prompting to continue, he smiled.

"He really is. He was telling me that I should perform with the Warblers instead of you guys for this competition so that we could sing a duet together." Rachel sighed dreamily.

"I feel like the whole Romeo and Juliet thing is overdone around here. First Finn and myself, the forbidden romance between the jock and the theatre geek. Then Jesse and I, the forbidden romance between glee clubs."

"We have no plans to kill ourselves for one another. I don't think Blaine would let me die for him, anyway, no matter what the circumstances."

"Doesn't the fact that you're basically mimicking what Jesse and I had dishearten you?" Rachel asked. She sounded genuinely curious.

"Are you trying to dishearten me? It's really not working. I don't think that we're mimicking you at all. Blaine is a good guy, Rachel. If he passes the Burt Hummel test he has to be."

"Kurt?" Mister Schuester said, and Rachel and he both turned to face him, "you're dating the leader of the Warblers. I need to know _now_ if the Warblers have heard any of our plans." He folded his arms, a sort of seriousness that Kurt hadn't really expected to ever see on the teacher.

"No, they have not," Kurt said confidently. Yes, he had told Blaine about the original songs. But he had never once thought that Blaine would take the idea to the council. He trusted him, he would trust him with his life. He _did_.

"Have you discussed the competition at all with Blaine?"

"Yes. We talk and communicate like a real couple. I know, shocker, right? I _trust_ him, even if you clearly don't trust me to keep my mouth shut."

"What's your problem with Blaine anyway?" Rachel asked, coming to Kurt's defence, "he's really a wonderful guy, Mister Schue. Like, he's _such_ a sweetheart, he really couldn't hurt a fly."

"I asked him to take a spider outside once and he told me it had feelings too," Kurt said.

"Awwww!" Rachel squealed. The lights dimmed in the auditorium and Kurt never did find out Mister Schuester's answer as to why he hated Blaine so much when they had never even met. His phone buzzed and he checked it quickly.

**Blaine A.** _break a leg. Didn't say that before._

**Blaine A.** _P.S. I love you_

**Kurt H.** _I love you too xoxo_

**Blaine A.** _B)_

* * *

Mercedes grabbed Kurt's sleeve and tugged him towards the back of the bus, looking at him expectantly as they sat down. "Spill, boo," she said, tapping his thigh excitedly, "You're in love with him now. _Spill_." The last comment caught the attention of a few of the other girls who turned to face him. Maybe they just didn't want to miss out on whatever it was that was happening with the gossip of the club.

"I told him I was a little bit nervous and he said just to remember that he was out there, and that he loved me." Kurt bit his lip, trying to keep his threatening grin at bay. "I told him that I loved him too, and then-"

"And then they made out in the hallway until I dragged their homo asses back inside," Santana supplied. A few of the girls didn't even try to hide their shock. Kurt supposed he was still their innocent baby to most of them.

"He's the cutest," Kurt said, and the girls around him all agreed. The lack of boyfriends in the group seemed to be evident, all of them living vicariously through Kurt. Even the ones with boyfriends seemed to mourn the feeling of young love. The fact they had waited more than three months to say the words that they had both felt for longer than that set their relationship apart from most of the teenagers Kurt knew, who started throwing the L word around after a week or two. "He was like, 'I can keep saying it forever,' and I said, 'well, as long as it's true,' and he said, 'so forever then,' and then I _died_ ," Kurt retold. He got a couple of squeals for that.

"All the good guys are gay," Rachel sighed, earning a couple of sympathetic nods. Kurt shook his head.

"Absolutely not. There are plenty of good guys who are straight. Just the best one is very much gay and very much mine."

Blaine danced over to Kurt and spun him around, putting him in a fit of giggles as Blaine pressed a kiss to neck. "Hey, handsome," Blaine said, before Kurt took his chin gently in his hand and tilted it upwards to kiss him.

"Hello," Kurt replied, sliding his arms around Blaine's neck. Blaine held his loosely around Kurt's waist as they aimlessly swayed together to the music. As much as Kurt felt that the party that Luke and Erica had thrown to celebrate his success wasn't fairly thrown, between the three Warblers who hadn't won and his lack of solos, he was incredibly grateful for it and was having a really good time.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great. Much better now my biggest fan is here."

"Oh, I didn't see your dad come in!" Blaine teased, jokingly looking around the room. Kurt laughed softly and Blaine dropped his head onto his shoulder, holding him that bit closer.

"Are you really going to come to New York just to see me sway in the background again?"

"Well, if I possibly can. I need to work out how I'm going to make it sound educational, but I'd do anything to be there to support you. Besides, I love you." Both Blaine and Kurt broke out into grins, the words still bringing a new exciting energy between them.

"I love you too."

"And who said you'll be swaying in the background?" Blaine asked. Kurt looked sadly at him, surprised he even had to ask.

"Experience. I'm just accepting the harsh facts."

"For what it matters, I would give you all of the solos in the world. I'll hunt down your teacher and force him into it if you really want me to."

"He hates you enough already. We should probably avoid giving him another reason." Blaine sighed. Kurt kissed him again, as though it would make the fact that a grown man was holding a grudge against a teenager in his sophomore year any better.

"Do you know _why_ he hates me, Kurt?"

"I thought it was just because you were dating me and he didn't like the whole rival glee clubs thing. Do _you_ know why?" Blaine shrugged.

"No," his voice suggested that he had a suspicion, but Kurt didn't raise it. He was enjoying dancing with his boyfriend far too much to complain about something so small. "You owe me a duet, by the way," Blaine informed him.

"Do I? Did I lose a bet that I don't know about?"

"You didn't join the Warblers for regionals so we didn't get to sing together."

"Are you just bitter that you didn't win?" Kurt asked, teasing him with a pout, "poor baby."

"Not at all. We're here to celebrate your win, my love. If I'm going to be bitter I'm going to do it in the privacy of my bedroom in the middle of the night where no one can prove that I ever was. The New Directions deserved to win, and so you did. Am I disappointed? Sure, a little bit. But I'm so excited for you, Kurt. You're getting to perform at Nationals for the first time ever. Your school might start taking the whole thing more seriously. This is way, way too good for you for me to ever be upset."

"Thank you," Kurt said.

"What for? I only told the truth," Blaine replied, tugging Kurt a tiny bit closer in his arms.

"For supporting me. For having some faith in me that the others don't."

"Speaking of supporting you, have you thought any more about prom?" Blaine asked, "You know I'll go with you if you want to." He was so genuine in the statement, with big, shiny eyes. Kurt wanted to hug him and never let go, but he was already more or less doing half of that. He knew how hard it must have been for Blaine to offer it in the first place.

"You have your own negative connotations with dances, I don't need you picking up mine, too. I might scare you off public schools for life." Kurt would never admit to his glee friends that he was as worried about giving the jocks the opportunity to terrorise him, but he was only more concerned when his boyfriend was at risk. He could put up with the tormenting. He could focus on survival. But with Blaine in the equation, Kurt didn't want to even try.

"Kurt Hummel, are you hoping I'll transfer?" Blaine said, "Do you have ulterior motives to this whole skipping prom thing?"

"Would you transfer?" he asked hopefully. Blaine laughed.

"We'll see. So, prom?"

"I care about you far more than prom."

"You only get one junior prom."

"Can't I go to yours next year?" Blaine laughed, having to drop his gaze to stop his laughter. Kurt knew the feeling- they both found it incredibly hard to stop laughing while they were building off one another.

"You're cheating. And it won't be a Dalton dance if I transfer," Blaine pointed out. He knew how much Kurt had enjoyed the ballroom and general atmosphere of the Snowflake dance.

"So you'll think about it?!" Kurt said excitedly. He never thought that Blaine would even consider leaving his safe haven to brave public school for him. Perhaps Blaine loved him even more than he ever gave him credit for. He _hated_ public school, and he was at the very least thinking about moving. For him.

"So long as you think about prom."

"Okay, fine. Let's just dance in the meantime, okay?" Blaine kissed him once softly before he nodded, adjusting their position to make their dance that small bit more comfortable. Kurt just leaned in the smallest bit to rest their foreheads together, overwhelmed by how much one boy could make him feel.

 


	18. Prom Night

The school was oddly peaceful. Kurt walked past a group of footballers, and, despite a few threatening stares, he didn't receive one single comment, nor a physical attack. It wasn't until he saw the first campaign poster for prom and saw Karofsky's face next to Santana's that everything dawned on him. He needed to win that competition, and his sudden attitude reform seemed to be helping that out.

After glee practice, Santana tugged Kurt aside, refusing to let go of his sleeve until they were safely inside an empty classroom. "Santana, I _cannot_ stretch this-" Kurt complained as she finally released him.

"We need to have a lady talk, Hummel," she said as he sat down on one of the desks.

"Is that meant to be a slur?" Kurt asked. He was used to 'girly talks'- not that he appreciated being referred to as a girl by his other friends- but not with Santana.

"Fine, a real talk, bitch to bitch." She took a deep breath before she continued. "I've got your back." Kurt raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is this because of the Karofsky thing? You're being his beard in return for him not bullying me?" he asked. He had certainly noticed the silence from him and how it seemed to be coupled with Santana's constant presence. Why Santana would be prepared to pretend to date someone so awful was beyond him.

"Kind of. It's just that you know he's gay and I know he's gay. And he knows I'm gay, so it's only fair that you know too. That I'm gay," she said. Kurt smiled, quietly content that it was only half to do with him, that he wasn't forcing something onto Santana.

"Oh."

"Don't sound so surprised."

"Do you want a hug now, or…?" he offered, "do you want to talk about coming out? Or uh, the equal marriage bill?"

"Fuck it," she mumbled, and opened her arms to him. They hugged somewhat awkwardly, Kurt fully aware that Santana was not the hugging type. "You don't need to worry about a hazing ceremony, honestly. Just… you deserved to know."

"Thanks, Santana. I really appreciate that you wanted to let me know." He released her then, and she adjusted her posture so she was standing back at her full height.

"Dave needs me, glee needs you, and you need Dave to keep off you. It all works out quite nicely, don't you think?" Kurt nodded. "Keep this between us though, okay?"

"I'm not here to out you. Why do you think Karofsky- _Dave_ \- can play it straight still?" he quipped. She grinned, walking towards the door. She knew as well as he did, that for all Kurt was treated like crap at school, if he wanted to bring down Karofsky's reputation, he could do it single-handedly.

"You coming?" she asked, cocking her head to signal for him to follow. Kurt hadn't ever thought that they were friends, but never before had he been so grateful that they were something friendlier than they had been a year ago.

* * *

Kurt arrived late to the LARP after spending another twenty minutes chatting with Santana. They never once brought up her sexuality or anything related to it, nor did they discuss Karofsky- they simply talked as though they had been friends forever, and it was really nice.

He slipped on Darcy's jacket and sunglasses and walked across the park with Darcy in his stride. There was a certain confidence he got from the character that oozed out effortlessly. Blaine, who was talking to Ethan, lit up as soon as he saw Kurt, which made him melt a little bit on the inside. He wondered why he had ever thought that Blaine didn't love him when he was greeted with such enthusiasm.

"…and your boyfriend is standing behind me, isn't he?" Ethan said. Blaine nodded before Ethan turned around. "Hello, Darcy. I'll leave you two to it." He was quick to leave, probably terrified of third wheeling when they were so hopelessly lovey dovey these days.

"Hi," Kurt said.

"Hey," Blaine replied, stepping closer to kiss him chastely in greeting, "you're late," he said, but he said it factually, teasingly rather than upset.

"I am. I had some reports that needed filing before I could leave the office," Kurt excused for Darcy, taking Blaine's hand, "what are we going to get up to today?"

"I was thinking we could go and sit over there," Blaine gestured towards one of their usual spots, "and you could congratulate me for the last big save of the town." He smiled suggestively at Kurt, all but waggling his eyebrows.

"You just want me to kiss you," he teased.

"Do I ever _not_ want you to kiss me?" Kurt shrugged and led him over to their spot anyway, feeling himself starting to slip character ever so slightly as Blaine breathed "god, I love you," into his ear.

The session ended and Kurt stood with Blaine nestled against him, one arm over his shoulder, as Erica ran through her notices. "We're only weeks away from the wedding, so I need to confirm your RSVP status. Is anyone not coming to the reception?" Kurt raised his arm slightly. She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I joined the LARP after you had gotten engaged. I never really got an invite."

"Oh my god, Kurt, of _course_ you're invited. But neither of you are getting plus ones, okay?" she said, pointing accusingly at them, and then at the other couples, "same goes for all of you."

The circle disbanded, and Blaine pulled Kurt aside before anyone else could nab them. "Have you thought any more about prom?" he asked, "because I'd still like to go. For you."

"And I don't really want to go at all. Things have calmed down a bit with everything, and I was talking to Santana- that's why I was late- and I think I _could_ go and leave relatively unscathed. But I'd prefer to do something else, you know? We can wear fabulous suits at the wedding." Blaine didn't seem upset by the decision.

"Okay. In that case, I have an idea. Would you be completely against a single event LARP? I mean, it's not superheroes, but I think it could be fun. We can organise our characters together."

"You know what, I think that sounds like the perfect prom alternative for us. I'd be honoured to LARP with you." Blaine grinned, leaning up to kiss Kurt quickly in his excitement.

* * *

"You boys don't have to sit down here just because I'm home," Burt said, coming across Kurt and Blaine's brainstorming set up at the table in the kitchen. "I know what 'studying' means, you don't have to keep up appearances." Blaine promptly turned quite red. No matter how much time he spent around Burt, he almost seemed permanently embarrassed, as though Burt had mind reading abilities and would know just what he talked about with his son.

"Dad, we aren't studying," Kurt explained, "we're organising our prom alternative."

"You aren't going to prom? Is this about that Karofsky kid again?" Burt sounded genuinely concerned for the scenario.

"Is it that hard to believe that I honestly don't want to go to prom?"

"You've been talking about it pretty much your whole life, kiddo. I find it a little bit of a stretch to think you won't take the opportunity to dress up. And you have a boyfriend to take and everything."

"We've already talked about this. We get to dress up for Luke and Erica's wedding in a few weeks' time, we're going to a single event LARP, and we get to go to prom next year, and the year after that, if we want. Skipping this one just means that we're avoiding an easy chance for something big and dumb to happen. Everything has been so quiet at school lately, I can't help but be a little sceptical," Kurt explained. Blaine nodded, taking Kurt's hand to demonstrate his full support. Kurt appreciated the tiny gesture, even if it went almost undetected by Burt.

"Well, if you can't persuade him to go, Blaine, then no one else stands a chance." Kurt had to agree with that, and Blaine didn't exactly argue either. Burt left not long after as they got stuck back into their character creation. They were fortunate in that the organisers of the event had published character sheets to fill out and return- everything that needed deciding was right there in front of them, along with an outline of the major characters and plot and suggestions for roles that could be filled.

They decided to be Harry and Maxwell, a pair of fiercely patriotic hunters. Their shared goal for the session was to track down and assassinate the prince, who they didn't want to marry into their kingdom. The prince had his own goals, of course, which is what made their job entertaining.

With their backgrounds established alongside all the details they could imagine to embellish the characters without forgetting something on the day, they retired to Kurt's room. They didn't do much more than cuddle, simply enjoying one another's company. They didn't have anything to talk about, and they didn't want to, either.

On the night of prom a few weeks later, Kurt put on a suit to take pictures with his friends and with Blaine, filling the gap in Carole's albums that she insisted would be present. They joined their friends at Breadstix for the standard pre-prom dinner, and, as they all left for the dance, Blaine and Kurt headed back to Kurt's house to change before the LARP. Burt smiled supportively, reassuring Kurt that he had nothing against his decision.

The LARP was much more tightly run than things were at Dreamweaver. They checked in and had their names ruled off a list, and were then debriefed on all the rules. Blaine suggested they have some light in character conversation prior to the actual start of the event to get their minds in Harry and Maxwell, helping them to stay separate from Nightbird and Darcy, too.

At the beginning of the session they sat down beside one another in a formal wedding set up, and were soon informed that it was the wedding of Princess Galatia to Prince Fernando- who was suspiciously absent. Kurt looked around the group to find that there was a much larger group than he expected. Alongside the ten major characters, there were at least twenty other people there, all of whom must have contributed originals. Blaine took his hand as though anticipating some grand event, and neither was disappointed as a (mock) gunshot fired and the crowd scattered, a lot of the chairs knocking over. They ran together into the trees surrounding the garden and paused to catch their breath. Blaine grinned at Kurt.

"I suppose we should focus on finding Fernando, eh, Max?" Blaine said, "I know the wedding just got called off, but we don't have a lot of time to keep it that way."

"Absolutely," Kurt agreed, tightening his hold on his plastic crossbow. Blaine raised a finger to his lips as there was the sound of footsteps behind them. "Identify yourself," Kurt called out, hoping for some sort of response.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" a female voice replied, "I doubt the guard would be lurking in the forest, but you could kill me, for all I know. What if you have a motive to do just that?" she stepped out from behind a tree, walking teasingly around in front of them, "I'll fight you. I'm armed."

"We don't want to hurt you," Blaine said, "not unless you give us reason to."

"Well you're no fun," the girl said, "I'll identify myself if you tell me who you are, first. No point bullshitting me. If you're the royal guard, say so. It will make things more interesting if you won't lie."

"I'm Maxwell and this is Harry," Kurt introduced, realising that he would probably never hear the girl's true name. Whatever she had named her character was going to stick in his mind forever. They were probably the same way for her. "We aren't the royal guard. Just a couple of deer hunters." She snorted.

"Not at the wedding, you're not. I'll choose to believe you. I'm Kira, I am _quite_ the wanted criminal, and I'm heading for the border to see if I can track down a certain prince Fernando."

"We're looking for the prince too," Blaine said, "what do you have against him?" he seemed to think that any help they could get towards their goal was worth taking, and Kurt didn't disagree. Any pointers were better than nothing, and Kira seemed safe enough. A risk worth taking, perhaps.

"Aside from that he's marrying my best friend against her will?" Kira quipped.

"Okay, okay," Kurt said, "we're looking for the same target. We may as well work together," he suggested. Kira nodded.

"Alright. But if you try _anything_ , you're both dead. I have the highest kill count around here, I don't need you two punks messing it up by taking my final shot. Two to the total is nothing." The trio set off to the area that had been designated as the border between the kingdoms in search for the prince. Kira chatted with them and even they never found out anything more about her beyond the character, she at least seemed nice. She explained to Max and Harry that the princess had a secret lover that she wanted her to marry, and that the closest she could come to helping that out was to kill Fernando. Her excuse seemed better than theirs, and they agreed that if he died they met their goal- she could have the final hit and they were happy to be accomplices.

"So why exactly are you worried about the royal guard?" Kurt asked, as they sat behind a bush, waiting for some other people to eventually run by.

"Because I have enough charges against me that I'm likely to be killed on sight. But everything I've done has been done for the greater good. I'd rather live a life on the run and keep everything as it is than live a cushy life somewhere else and have no adventure," Kira explained. "How exactly did you two get into the assassination business?"

"We really _are_ deer hunters," Blaine said, "but we have the experience to hunt down a prince who will mess up our country, so why the hell not?"

"Are you two partners?"

"Yeah, we've always hunted together."

"No, are you like, _partners_?" she winked exaggeratedly, and they shared a look, trying to decide quickly if their characters were a couple or not in the way that Kira had meant. They hadn't discussed it, and they had been trying to separate these characters from themselves better than Darcy and Nightbird; but in the end, it was a single event LARP, they could afford to slip a little bit.

"Only on the down low," Kurt said after a moment, and Blaine nodded.

"We don't need to cause any more trouble," he agreed.

"How long have you two been together?" Kira asked, Blaine answered without hesitation.

"Four months." Kira smiled. She knew that the lack of hesitation was a pretty solid indicator of their life outside the LARP, answering the question she really wanted to ask.

"I don't mind, you know." The sudden sound of chatter in the distance caused all of three of them to jump, especially as the noise got rapidly closer. They all waited quietly for them to give any hint of who they were.

"Our job is to keep Fernando safe!" one argued, giving them exactly the indicator that they needed. Kira counted down on her fingers from three, and then they all jumped up and ran towards them. All of them raised their plastic weapons, ready to resolve the issue.

"Two young men with crossbows, and oh, a defenceless young girl!" one of the guys, who was now clearly a member of the royal guard Kira had so desperately been avoiding. She pulled a plastic dagger from her boot, and, from what they had learnt about her before, Kurt was confident she had plenty of other concealed weapons.

"Go, Kira," Kurt urged, "we'll take them. You worry about the _other_." At the words, the guards moved forward to attack them. Kira slipped off, throwing one last glance over her shoulder. Their long range weapons were no good against the guards' swords, and soon Kurt was faking his death. The guards almost waited expectantly for Blaine to cause a scene before they killed off Harry.

"Max!" Blaine yelled, running over to where he was lying on the ground. He was close to tears, and took all of Kurt's best acting skills and determination not to sit up and comfort him.

"Hey, you," Kurt said softly, "Kira is reaching our goal for us. It's okay. We can stop our journey here."

"I don't want a journey without you, Max," Blaine whispered, lying down next to him. After Kurt dramatically passed away, Blaine was stabbed by a guard who had been standing by and watching the whole ordeal. With both their characters dead, they tied red ribbons around their wrists, which was apparently the rule with the LARP, allowing them to move. It was much better than lying on the ground for another hour or two, or until another character dragged their bodies off.

Once their characters had been officially signed off, they headed to Kurt's car, and fell into the backseat together. It wasn't hard for them to find a way to pass the time until the wrap up of the event, as they let their hands and mouths explore one another. Their hands stayed strictly above the waist, as the rule had been the whole time they were dating, but the car didn't allow a lot of room for careful hip placements, which made things a whole lot steamier than Kurt perhaps would have liked, not that he cared in the moment.

"I refuse to lose my virginity on prom night. Not when I didn't even go to prom," Kurt said. Blaine pulled away quickly, baffled by Kurt's comment.

"Were you planning something?" he asked. He very awkwardly managed to get off Kurt enough for him to sit up, and then filled the space beside him. He snuggled quickly into his side, not letting anything keep them separate.

"Oh, um, no, I just wanted to be clear that…" he trailed off.

"It's fine, Kurt, I'm not ready either. I hadn't even _thought_ about it, cliché or not. Besides, we have the whole summer to figure this stuff out together, if you wanted to… but really, there's no pressure." Blaine leant his head against Kurt's shoulder. "Oh god, it's awkward now."

"I still love you," Kurt said quietly. Blaine wrapped his arms loosely around Kurt's shoulders, nuzzling him softly.

"I love you too." They stayed quiet for a moment in comfortable closeness before Kurt initiated a few soft kisses, relieving the obvious tension still hanging between them. He hadn't meant for it get awkward, but awkwardness now was probably better than regret later.

Blaine sprang away in surprise as best as he could in the car when Kurt's phone rang. Kurt reached over to the front seat to find where he had left it. He glanced down at the screen, surprised by the caller; it was Tina.

"I should probably take this, Tina never calls me," Kurt explained, and Blaine nodded, shuffling closer so that he would be able to hear it easily enough. There was no room for private phone conversations in their relationship anymore. "Hey, Tina."

" _Kurt!"_ she almost squealed, _"You were written in as prom queen, oh my god, it was awful. Karofsky won prom king."_

"Oh?"

" _Yeah! Because you weren't here to get it, Quinn collected it on your behalf. The bitch."_ Kurt couldn't help but laugh at her reaction.

"Thanks for letting me know, Tina. I'll see you on Monday." He ended the conversation and turned to his boyfriend before bursting out into laughter. Blaine smiled at the reaction, but didn't fully understand. "This is why everything has been quiet the last few weeks, not because of Santana. It's all one big convoluted scheme, and it didn't work, _because I didn't even go to prom_." Blaine laughed then too, and Kurt suspected he was glad they hadn't gone. Kurt had been correct in his judgement that prom provided the perfect platform for something big to go wrong with them, and he was happy that Blaine had helped with their alternative so much.

"Well, your prom highness, could I have this dance?" Blaine asked, and Kurt nodded. They stood outside the car together and Blaine looped his arms around him, holding him close.

"There isn't any music," Kurt murmured as they began to sway slowly together.

"I don't think that matters. Do you want me to provide some music?" Kurt didn't say anything, but Blaine somehow took that as his cue to sing softly in Kurt's ear. _"Never knew I could feel like this, like I've never seen the sky before…"_


	19. Slow Dancing

"What are you so excited about?" Mercedes asked Kurt right before school was due to end. He was practically bouncing in his seat, and he wasn't surprised that it hadn't gone unnoticed. There was only a week left until school got out for the summer, and everyone in glee club was already feeling the high from nationals, but this happiness was of a completely different sort.

"Blaine's picking me up from school today. I haven't seen him all week because he's had final exams, but we're going to go to the movies tonight, and I'm just looking forward to seeing my boyfriend, oh my god Mercedes, don't give me that look." She laughed in a way that suggested infectious happiness over any real hilarity.

"What look, boo?" He rolled his eyes. It was her signature _someone's getting smooched_ face, the one she used most often when she was interrogating for gossip.

"You know exactly the one." The bell rang and Kurt walked quickly out of school to the parking lot. Mercedes followed, right up until Kurt spotted Blaine waiting by his car across the lot and ran over, throwing his arms around Blaine's neck and kissing him on the full. Blaine was tangibly surprised, but he didn't complain in the slightest as he adjusted to the kiss. Kurt was just so happy to see him that he didn't have a chance to process the appropriateness of attacking him.

A throat cleared and Kurt pulled away from Blaine, turning to find Mercedes, Santana, and Tina, each with their arms folded. He had forgotten that he had even lost Mercedes in the rush. "Kurt, I'm happy that you're feeling safe enough around here now that Karofsky is transferring to kiss your boyfriend on school grounds, but the PDA thing applies to _everyone_ ," Santana said. Kurt laughed into Blaine's shoulder for a moment before nodding seriously to the girls.

"Sorry, 'Tana."

"Yeah, you better be. Now go home, Hummel, better not keep that cupcake you call a boyfriend waiting." Kurt didn't need to be told twice, hopping quietly in the car and waving to Santana as they drove away, laughing softly when she disguised a wave as raising her hand to fix her hair.

* * *

"How do I look?" Kurt asked, brushing down his suit for the hundredth time since he put it on, waiting for some approval from his family. He couldn't help his excitement; he had always loved weddings, and this was the first that he was going to of his own accord and not because he was invited in extension of his parents.

"Are you sure it's not _your_ wedding?" Burt teased, receiving a whack from Carole. Kurt loved how well the two families had integrated in the last few months. Everything felt perfectly normal now where they didn't immediately following the wedding. Carole taking his side, even in a playful manner, was indicative to Kurt of how far their relationship had come. Whether or not she was his mom, she was as close as he was getting, and he loved her all the same.

"You look amazing, sweetheart," Carole told him, "don't listen to your father. Not even you stand a chance of upstaging a bride, don't worry about that."

"Um, thanks?" Kurt turned to Finn, who more or less grunted before turning his attention back to the TV. Kurt rolled his eyes, but would never push the subject further. Finn didn't try to get involved where clothes were in focus, and he didn't expect Kurt to get involved with football. It was a comfortable arrangement.

Kurt sat down to wait until Blaine arrived to pick him up, and wasn't disappointed when the doorbell rang a few minutes later. Blaine let himself in even after ringing the bell and joined the family in the living room. "Hey," Blaine said, earning hellos from all of the Hummel-Hudsons, "Are you ready to go?" Kurt jumped up and hugged Blaine in greeting, holding on a couple of moments too long for it to be friendly.

"Okay, now I am." Burt and Carole looked at them expectantly as they separated, Blaine keeping one hand on Kurt's lower back. They looked right back, waiting for someone to say something. They knew what they wanted from them, and somewhere along the way Kurt and Blaine had mutually decided on keeping the PDA toned down around their families.

"Go on, kiss him," Carole urged. Kurt rolled his eyes at his parents, but he still cupped Blaine's cheek in his hand and guided their mouths together for a short, sweet kiss. Kurt could tell they were practically stifling _awws_ , but he decided to enjoy the support rather than berate them for it. "Have fun tonight. Drink responsibly."

"I don't think Luke and Erica will let us drink, but thanks," Blaine said, saying goodbye to Kurt's family before guiding him outside and to the car. He wasn't sure when Blaine had become so at home with his family, but he loved every single second of it.

* * *

The wedding was small and simple and passed quickly. Erica looked as beautiful as everyone expected, in a typically white dress with lavender accents and flowers in her hair. In all the time Kurt had known her, this was the girliest he had ever seen her. While everyone turned to look at her, Kurt shot a look at Luke at the front of the aisle, grinning from ear to ear. His eyes sparkled, but he wasn't even remotely close to tears for the enjoyment on his face. He leaned over and said something to his best man, making him laugh.

Halfway through the ceremony Blaine took Kurt's hand in his and didn't let go until they left the building. There was a procession to Erica's parent's house, where there was a marquee set up in the large garden for the reception. They found their table easily- it was most obviously marked by six of their best friends. Nick, Jeff, Leo, Ethan, Marley, and Unique were all sitting at the table, and Kurt was thrilled to find that Unique was wearing a dress, and rocking every single stitch of it. Whether her parents were supportive or not, she was a fierce young lady, and Kurt was glad that no one in the LARP group had ever called her by her birth name around him. He knew not to ask, it was simple courtesy, and he couldn't care less.

"What took you two so long to get here?" Jeff teased, even though they had walked in only minutes later than the others.

"We got caught at a red light," Blaine said with a shrug. The others almost seemed disappointed that they didn't have a better story to tell, or that they didn't turn bright red in avoiding a confession. Kurt wasn't sure when he and Blaine had joined the boring old married couples, but Leo and Ethan seemed to lack spontaneity just as much, and Nick and Jeff had more or less reverted back to their friendship after just a few short weeks of dating, though the make outs and boyfriend titles stayed. It was as though they had realised that dating your best friend didn't have to change everything.

Each table had a disposable camera on it for the partygoers to use, which Leo set to doing right away, making all the other couples at the table pose in turn until he had taken pictures of all of them. When Unique took the camera off him, she quickly insisted that sitting beside one another wasn't a suitable pose, and wouldn't rest until Blaine finally played into her hands and kissed Kurt for a picture. With a glance around the room, it seemed as though no one had batted an eyelid at the affection. It was a comforting thought to know that Erica and Luke came from families that minded as little as they did.

Luke and Erica approached their table together, hand in hand. "I'm glad you're all here together. It's time for _our_ family photo," Luke explained, and they all followed them without question. They approached a photographer standing in front of some rose bushes, undoubtedly the set for the wedding photos.

"You can all take prom-esque pictures later, if you like. Roberto will be setting up a backdrop soon and everything," Erica said quickly. She was either incredibly excited about the events of the night ahead or she was getting antsy.

Luke arranged them in a careful semicircle and nodded to most of the guys in the group- Kurt seemed to be the only one who wasn't in the loop. He had been positioned with the girls too, though, so he wasn't exactly surprised. With Erica and Luke he didn't even think to take offense.

Wordlessly, Luke, Blaine, Nick, Jeff, Ethan, and Leo unbuttoned their shirts, revealing various superhero t-shirts. Kurt didn't mind being out of the loop so much anymore.

"You didn't!" Erica exclaimed, bursting into giggles as soon as the first picture was taken. Roberto snapped a few more shots as they kept laughing, clearly happy with the pure joy.

"Oh, but I did."

"You're a moron."

"But I'm your moron," Luke pointed to his wedding ring, "Forever." Erica leaned up to kiss him then, being greeted accordingly. The heroes rebuttoned their shirts without any prompting and they group slipped away from behind the couple, letting them have their moment. They had the pictures they needed for the moment, anyway, and Roberto certainly didn't stop them.

Blaine laced his fingers with Kurt as they headed back into the marquee, Kurt wondering why the wedding was making his boyfriend so affectionate.

"Because I love you all the time but being surrounded by a celebration of two people in love brings it out in me," Blaine said, squeezing his hand softly. Kurt hadn't realised that he had been thinking aloud. At least his thoughts were perfectly PG.

"I love you too."

"Do you not want me to be affectionate? I can try to stop but there's no guaranteeing that I won't hold your hand again," Blaine looked almost guilty in the confession. Kurt shook his head. Part of him was still adjusting after the months they had been together to the fact he had someone who wanted to hold his hand all the time, even in public places like the wedding.

"No, of course not. I love that you want to be constantly expressing how much you care about me. I was just momentarily concerned that there was a reason you were being clingy." He knew that when Blaine got physically affectionate it was often a symptom of some emotional problem in his life. That had been why they had cuddled so much when they were still friends. They both went seeking physical comfort, and they had always found it in one another.

"Ouch."

"I didn't mean…. I'm sorry." Kurt stopped walking to pull Blaine closer for a kiss, but Blaine turned away at the last moment. "Sorry," Kurt said again. He shouldn't have assumed that kissing Blaine would shut him up.

"Yeah. Who feels bad now?" Blaine said, quirking an eyebrow at him. Kurt sighed in fond exasperation, and with a mutual eye roll Blaine kissed him. Kurt could feeling him smiling beneath his lips, clearly content in how wound up he succeeded in making his boyfriend.

"Meanie," Kurt said, but he was smiling as he said it, hollow of any threat.

"Oh, shush," Blaine said, kissing him again before pulling him towards the marquee again.

* * *

Later in the night, Kurt stood on the dance floor with Blaine in his arms, dancing together to a slow song, only vaguely aware of the others dancing around them. Blaine had his head resting against Kurt's shoulder, sighing contently every few minutes. "Don't fall asleep on me, honey," Kurt said, tightening his hold on him just the slightest bit.

"I'm not falling asleep," Blaine promised, "I'm just happy."

"Mm," Kurt hummed in agreement, completely understanding Blaine's bliss. There was something hugely satisfying about dancing at a wedding with your boyfriend, with the perfect mix of slow love songs playing around them. It was always nice to be close to Blaine, but this was especially amazing.

"This is nice," Blaine said dreamily.

"It is." The song changed to something much faster and they couldn't ignore it any further, so they allowed themselves to separate, even while staying within arm's reach of one another. They danced right up until Erica danced over to them, making them step away from one another to allow her into the tiny circle.

"I have someone I want you to meet, Blaine," she started, "you can meet him too if you want, Kurt, but it might be less relevant for you. Come with, anyway." Blaine offered Kurt his arm, and he linked their arms together as they followed along behind Erica. They stopped at one of the tables, by a teenage boy who was playing around on his phone. "Sebastian?" the boy snapped his head up. There was something immediately suspicious about him to Kurt, something that just didn't inspire any faith or trust in him. "This is Kurt and Blaine," Erica turned to them, "and _this_ is my cousin Sebastian. He's starting at Dalton after the summer."

"Oh!" Blaine said, immediately offering him his hand, "I'm Blaine, I'll be a junior next year. You don't happen to be a singer by any chance, do you?" Kurt pulled Blaine down into one of the chairs. If they were going to stay and talk to Erica's cousin, he was at least going to be comfy doing it.

"Uh, yeah, a bit. Are you in the show choir?" Sebastian asked. He didn't seem much like he wanted to be there, nor that he wanted to talk about school.

"Yeah, I'm the lead soloist."

"He's really good," Kurt added. Sebastian ignored him, leaving his gaze on Blaine.

"And you LARP with Erica and Luke?"

"Yeah, I've been with them since the start of the group forming, Kurt joined at the end of last year. It's how we met," Blaine said. Sebastian nodded, but he still didn't look at Kurt at all.

"So you two are a couple?" Blaine nodded. "That's okay, I like a challenge." Kurt resisted everything he had to punch him. Blaine had both his hands in his, probably anticipating the fury. He could read Kurt much better than he often gave him credit for.

"How much do you know about LARPing?" Blaine asked. He looked at Kurt frequently, almost as though he was making up for Sebastian's rudeness, probably trying to ensure that he wasn't going to hit anything. He wanted to get out of there, but he accepted that Blaine had an innate need to be friendly and polite, especially since Erica had just introduced them.

"I'm going to be starting a branch of your LARP over in Westerville. A lot of your players are local to Westerville anyway, right?"

"Yeah, but none of them are going to switch for you," Kurt said. Ethan came over to Lima for Leo, and the LARP was a bonus for them; Nick and Jeff he had less reasoning for, but he hoped they would be loyal. Even as two branches of the same roleplay, there was going to be rivalry right from the start.

Erica returned to the table with Luke in tow. "I heard LARP," Luke said, "I'm here to take Blaine and Kurt away and talk to them."

"Was I not meant to tell them?" Sebastian said, the picture of innocence. Erica smiled at him, even if it seemed a little forced.

"Not really, no. Is Rory around somewhere?"

"Yeah, I guess. We've been around one another all night, you can't blame us for splitting up."

" _Rory,_ the _experienced_ LARPer, was meant to talk to them about that, oh my god, you are an actual idiot," Erica said to him as Kurt and Blaine followed Luke out of the marquee. Kurt was still left wondering who Rory was as Luke began his explanation.

"Blaine, you're the one we care about most in this. We _aren't_ leaving the roleplay just because we're helping Sebastian start one up."

"Am I meant to move to his because it's based in Westerville?" he asked, shifting closer to Kurt. Kurt wrapped an arm around his waist supportively, knowing that now, _this_ was Blaine's call for physical comfort.

"Not at all. We don't want to lose any of you. Sebastian and Rory's LARP is going to take place in the same world as ours, but in a different town. We'll have combined sessions once a month or so." Blaine nodded. "We didn't think this was going to upset you, Blaine," Luke said gently.

"It doesn't, not really…. I just didn't want to hear it from him."

"He's not a bad guy. A little rough around the edges, maybe, but he's nice enough. I can't say I know him very well, I've only met him a couple of times at Erica's family things. But we didn't want you to hear it from him, either. Erica was hoping that Rory would talk to you instead, about that. She was just trying to give him a familiar face for when he started at Dalton."

"He hit on me," Blaine said factually. Luke looked at Kurt for confirmation, though he wasn't totally disbelieving and it showed on his face.

"He implied that Blaine being in a relationship only meant he was more fun to chase."

"Oh, damn. I'm sorry, you guys. We shouldn't have left you alone with him," Luke said, "I mean, I wouldn't have, but Erica forgets sometimes that we aren't all his cousins. We aren't obligated to smile at him and such." He began to head back inside, and so Kurt and Blaine followed wordlessly. Kurt pressed a kiss to Blaine's temple in some hopeful gesture of support.

Blaine was quiet for the rest of the evening, right up until they waved Erica and Luke off for their honeymoon. He kept himself attached to Kurt somehow all evening, a gesture that he didn't especially mind.

"You're thinking very loudly," Kurt said. Blaine nodded. "Tell me about it later?" Blaine nodded again, obviously very thankful that Kurt didn't want to talk right away. He wanted to know what was going on so he could help to make it better, but he knew Blaine, and he knew when he wasn't ready to share what was on his mind. Blaine dropped Kurt off home and walked him to the door to kiss him goodnight.

"I hate thinking that you still have to drive all the way to Westerville," Kurt said, resting his hands on Blaine's chest following their first of what was always several goodbye kisses. Blaine's arms were wrapped around his waist comfortably, with their foreheads leaning against each other.

"I know. I should have just arranged to stay over somewhere in Lima since I knew the reception would go so late."

"Do you want to come in and get some coffee or anything? Say hi to my dad?" he was stalling now, but he didn't have it in him to care. Any extra moments with Blaine, even when he was only greeting Burt, were better than nothing- and they justified another goodbye.

"Will Burt be up?" Kurt laughed.

"Oh yeah. He will have stayed up to make sure I got home okay. He's a worrier. I mean, he'll only get worried about your drive back to Westerville too, but still." Blaine kissed him again gently, but this time it wasn't a goodbye, but rather an attempt to cram in more kissing before they hung around a parent.

"I think I could come in for a little while. It's not _too_ late yet," he said. Kurt smiled, kissing him once more.

"Okay. Come on." He took Blaine's hand and let himself into the house, turning off the porch light on his way in. They walked through to the kitchen, where they predictably found Burt sitting at the table, doing the crossword from the newspaper (or at least pretending to). "Hey, dad."

"Hi, bud. Do you always bring stray teenagers home from these things?" Burt teased, though he stood up and offered his arms to Blaine. "Hey, son." Blaine stepped into the hug contently. "How was the wedding?"

"Good, really good. Erica looked beautiful, but don't all brides?" Kurt said, stopping suddenly, worried that he was going to ramble if he kept going any longer. "I told Blaine to come in for a bit because he still has the whole drive back to Westerville ahead of him."

"You can always stay here," Burt offered nonchalantly. Blaine opened his mouth in surprise. "Will your parents be waiting up for you? I can call them if you don't want to do it."

"Oh, um, thank you for the offer, s-Burt. But I can get home alright," Blaine insisted. Burt glared at him.

"Come on, kid. It's late, you look emotionally shattered, and I know you _want_ to stay. Finn's at Puck's tonight, so you can even stay in his room if your parents are worried about you and Kurt." Kurt wasn't sure how Burt had picked up that Blaine was _emotionally shattered_ , but he wasn't wrong. Burt was more perceptive than Kurt gave him credit for, sometimes.

"Oh- okay. Fine, I'll stay. You Hummels sure know how to wear me down, goodness," Blaine said. Burt laughed triumphantly. "I'll call them, though, they shouldn't need to talk to you."

"Take him up to your room, Kurt, find him something to wear. Your stuff is a better bet than Finn's or mine." Kurt led Blaine up to his bedroom and found pyjamas for both of them while Blaine talked to his dad on the phone, who was surprisingly okay with the idea of him staying over. He told no lies- he said that he was staying at his boyfriend's house, that it was okay with Kurt's parents, and everything worked out just fine.

"I'm going to shower in the morning," Kurt said, "but you're welcome to shower now, if you want."

"I think I will. It's better than sleeping with all the gel," Blaine explained with gestures around his head. Kurt passed him the t-shirt and sweat pants that he had found for Blaine to wear and let him shuffle out of the room towards the bathroom. Kurt changed in his absence, though Blaine reappeared as he was between changing shirts. "Oh, sorry," Blaine said.

"It's fine. You can come in." Kurt picked up the t-shirt to put on, but Blaine stopped him.

"Hang on a second. Turn around?" Kurt turned, still shirtless, and turned back to find his boyfriend grinning at him.

"Were you just checking out my ass?" he raised an eyebrow at Blaine is suspicion, still confused as to why he wasn't allowed his shirt on.

"No, I… you don't have any bruises on your shoulders, Kurt," Blaine said, "You actually have had a chance to let them heal now." Kurt couldn't help but grin then too.

"Oh, that's really good. I hadn't even thought about it." He put his shirt on to find Blaine was standing very close to him when he was done. He pulled him in close for a hug. There was soft knock on the door, enough for them to move away from one another.

"Everyone decent?" Burt asked from outside the door.

"Yeah, come in, dad," Kurt said. Burt opened the door but hovered near the doorway nonetheless.

"You can stay in here tonight, Blaine. You've done it before, and I'm choosing to trust you. I'm going to close the door again because I know the light in here gets funny and it will keep the noise down in the morning if you want to sleep in, but no funny business, alright? I'm not going to sleep just yet and these walls are thin." Burt closed the door again, and Kurt just looked at Blaine for a moment, not sure to trust his dad's trust in them.

"Well," he started, "Are you ready for bed?" they slid into bed beside one another, and Blaine very quickly wound up in Kurt's arms, tucking himself into Kurt's side with his head slotted on his shoulder. "Thank you for coming to nationals, by the way."

"It's okay. I promised you I would be there to support you, and my dad had some meetings anyway. I only missed one day of school to make it for your performance. I'm sorry our fantasies of Broadway and walking in Central Park couldn't be fulfilled quite so well," Blaine said as he began to draw patterns on Kurt's chest absentmindedly.

"We have all the time in the world for that."

"That we do, my love." Blaine leaned up to kiss him goodnight, perhaps the real last time. They always had a few false starts, though, and Kurt couldn't be sure that even in bed beside one another they wouldn't procrastinate sleep further.


	20. Epilogue

**Kurt H.** _We never talked about it._

**Blaine A.** _That's true._

**Kurt H.** _Do you want to talk about it?_

**Blaine A.** _Yeah, I think I do._

**Blaine A.** _It's just what Sebastian said._

**Kurt H.** _About the new LARP?_

**Blaine A.** _Yeah. I don't want him taking away my friends._

**Kurt H.** _He isn't going to do that, B. Luke and Erica are helping him and that Rory guy set it up, so that they can do their own thing independent of us._

**Blaine A.** _I know._

**Kurt H.** _So why are you really so worried?_

**Blaine A.** _Because Sebastian makes me incredibly uncomfortable and I don't want to rival him at school as well as at LARPs._

**Kurt H.** _Fair enough. But your school friends love you, your LARP friends love you, *I* love you._

**Blaine A.** _I love you too. And um, about what Sebastian said about challenges_

**Blaine A.** _I really don't plan to leave you at all_

**Blaine A.** _I mean, I don't find him attractive in the slightest, to begin with_

**Blaine A.** _But I don't know what I'd do without you_

**Blaine A.** _I feel like you put me together again when I hadn't even realised that my pieces had fallen apart_

**Blaine A.** _I don't even know if you're still reading all this?_

**Kurt H.** _I am. You can keep going xx_

**Blaine A.** _Thanks. But anyway, I really, really love you, Kurt. And I just needed you to know that he's just a dick and I'm not looking to trade up (not that he's a trade up, or hell, even if there's anything to trade up to)_

**Kurt H.** _I know, Blaine, but thank you. You can stop worrying now, okay?_

**Blaine A.** _Okay. Thank you xoxoxo_

**Kurt H.** _Love you too ;)_

**Blaine A.** _I. LOVE. YOU. B)_

**Kurt H.** _Blaine?_

**Blaine A.** _Yeah?_

**Kurt H.** _I think I'm ready._

**Kurt H.** _For sex._

**Kurt H.** _...You're quiet. Anyway, you'll notice that I can use the word in a message now_

**Blaine A.** _I'm a little surprised, is all, and yes, I had noticed_

**Kurt H.** _I mean, we should talk about this properly and not via text message, but when you're ready, I want you to talk to me about it._

**Blaine A.** _Deal._

**Blaine A.** _Have fun with Mercedes, Kurt. Try not to show her this conversation, okay? Xxxx_

**Kurt H.** _You're no fun. But yes, I'll keep it to myself. It's not like I'd hear the end of it if I showed her._

**Kurt H.** _Have I mentioned that I love you lately?_

**Blaine A.** _B)_


End file.
